


Leo the Love Mechanic

by aliteraryaddict



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe, First AO3 fic, High School AU, I guess closeted homosexuality?, Leo plays Pokemon in the back of English class, M/M, Maybe - Freeform, absolutely no character bashing, assumed Jason Grace/Piper McLean, first ao3 post, healthy friendships, jason grace is not human, leo is popular when people don't know its him, leo valdez is a precious bb and I love him, piper is a good friend, piper leo friendship, present but absent parents, probably, protect leo valdez at all costs, radio au, slowish burn, there are other/side pairings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-23
Updated: 2018-09-22
Packaged: 2018-12-18 22:04:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 21
Words: 40,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11883750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aliteraryaddict/pseuds/aliteraryaddict
Summary: The ‘Love Mechanic’ is a popular segment on the local radio channel. Listeners call in to tell the Love Mechanic of their romantic woes, who them advises them with some sort of solution for their situation. The fact that the whole segment relies on anonymity plays a part in the endless amount of content for the piece, voice pitching masking the identities of calls played live on air to protect the caller’s identity. The enigmatic host is also draws in a lot of attention, everyone wants to know the face and voice behind the host who can engineer a solution to any romantic problem.Leo Valdez, a scrawny teen that has had a grand total of zero experiences with romance and relationships in his seventeen years of life, wonders how the hell he ended up giving out love advice on Friday nights with half of a million people tuning in to listen to him give love advice. Seriously, he plays Pokemon in the back of his English class and struggles with acne like all other regular, normal, human teenagers- and no, Jason Grace is totally, one-hundred percent not human. How can he ‘engineer a solution to any romantic problem’ when he can’t even figure out his own love life with said non-human-probably-part-god Jason Grace?





	1. Miguel the Pimple

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own any of the characters, all Percy Jackson and Heroes Of Olympus characters belong to Rick Riordan.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> summary: in which the author drops a lot of background information on you in order to set up the story and avoid any potential character bashing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own any of the characters, all Percy Jackson and Heroes Of Olympus characters belong to Rick Riordan.

Leo Valdez, just like any other typical teenage boy, suffered from the occasional pimple. The one currently making itself at home just under his nose was painful and it was taking everything in him not to mess with it, the urge to pick at the red bump was almost overwhelming. He knew if he asked Piper she’d probably have some kind of zit cream to smear on it that would make it disappear within a day and if he screwed with the thing it would only last that much longer. He grunted, leaning back from his bathroom counter, trying to think about anything but the pimple. It was hard though, the more he tried not to think about it the more he wanted to pop it. Maybe just a little bit of picking wouldn’t do too much damage-

His cell phone buzzed on the counter, breaking him out of his thoughts. He looked away from his reflection long enough to notice it was Piper who had texted him, and suddenly his pimple problem was not that big a deal anymore. He unlocked his phone and quickly opened the messages app to see what she wanted. He grimaced when he noticed he had missed the message she had sent fifteen minutes earlier. The blue bubble reading ‘ _J and I are on our almost at your place, got breakfast on the way and yes, we got your fairy ass a sprinkled doughnut_ ’ was followed by ‘ _get in loser, we’re going to school_ ’. He grinned, shoving his phone into his pocket before leaving the bathroom, going down the stairs two at a time.

Nobody was home, Nyssa wouldn’t be finishing up her shift at their father’s auto shop for another hour and Jake had woken him up about thirty minutes ago before leaving for his morning classes. He still called out a loud ‘goodbye’ that echoed down the hallway as he tossed his worn backpack over his shoulder and slammed the front door shut behind him. His smile was spread across his face as he approached Jason’s Nissan Rogue, throwing the back door open and vaulting himself into the car. His backpack was thrown carelessly into the floor as he leaned out to pull the door closed after him.

“Hey there repair boy, who’s your new tenant?” Piper had rotated her body so she could face him. Jason had turned in his seat too, handing him a chocolate milk. Perfect, pimple-less Jason was smiling at him like he wasn’t sporting the nastiest zit on his face. He wiped his palms on his jeans, making quick eye contact before looking down at his feet only to realize he was only wearing his socks.

“Shut up beauty queen, Miguel is an uninvited and hence unwelcomed guest. You don’t happen to have anything to help me with this pesky squatter, do you?” He leaned down to shove on his shoes and tie them.

“Yeah, mom got me this new exfoliation face mask and I was thinking we could all try it out afterschool today when we’re studying.”

“An exfoliating mask, how fancy.” He leaned against the door once he was finished getting his shoes on, greedily grabbing the paper bag out of Piper’s hands when she shoved it into his face. “Thanks guys, you’re seriously the best friends a guy could ever hope for.”

“No problem Leo.” Jason replied, and the blond really had to stop looking at him like that because he might go into cardiac arrest, his chest hurting from how rapidly his heart hammered against it. Not to mention his blue eyes looking at him so intently makes it hard to swallow, and he really wants to eat his sprinkled doughnut without choking.

They both turn back and face forward, the car starting up as he fumbled with his seat belt. Some pop song plays softly in the background, and his friends resume whatever conversation they were having before he entered the car. Looking at them, Leo knows that Jason Grace and Piper McLean were meant to be his people.

Piper had done toddler pageants as a kid, her mother had put her into them instead of cheer or dance like any other normal four year old, and despite trying her best with the choppy haircuts she gave herself and thrifted clothing she wore, she still looked like someone who was about to give a speech because she won Miss Universe. She had quit because the other girls made fun of her for being mixed, but Leo thought that her being half Cherokee wasn't all bad, it was actually really cool. He had told her so when they first met and the two had been inseparable since, bonding over their heritage and broken homes throughout the years. Piper had been there for him when his father wasn't after his mom's death, had helped piece him back together when he felt like he was falling apart.

Jason was the epitome of a student-athlete. The blond was involved in football during the fall, captained the soccer team in the winter, and broke state records in track during the spring season. He was always on the high honors roll, and his only real competition for valedictorian was Reyna at this point. He was in all AP classes this year, which Leo personally thought was suicide- he could barely handle AP Chemistry and AP English and Jason had those along with APUSH and AP Calculus. That wasn't his choice though, his father had really high and unreasonable expectations for his offspring. He was about as distant from his children as Leo’s father.

When the two boys had met in second grade they hit it off instantly. Jason and Leo were on the local youth baseball team together and spent most of their time with each other during that summer, both on and off the field. Leo had been appalled when he learned the blond had never played Pokémon and even lent him his beat-up hand-me-down gameboy Jake had given him that year for his birthday and his beloved Pokémon Red game cartridge, cementing the friendship.

When Leo introduced Piper and Jason to one another in third grade their friendship just kind of clicked into place. Nothing had ever felt so right, at least until around seventh grade when she whispered conspiratorially on the bus to him one day that she thought Jason was cute and she might have a crush on him. His stomach had dropped and he had the sudden urge to puke up the hotdog he had eaten that day at lunch. Piper liked Jason, but Leo had been friends with Jason first, knew Jason first, so shouldn't he have dibs? Didn't Piper know that she couldn't have Jason? Except Jason wasn't his, wasn't a possession, and they were both boys anyways so why was he thinking about Jason that way? He actually did puke in the end, all over that weird kid Octavian who used to bring his stuffed animals to school and rip them apart to perform satanic rituals on the playground when they were in elementary school.

Leo had gotten home, upset and confused, and skipped dinner with his siblings. They never missed dinner- while the three were living quickly diverging lives, they always managed to get to spend an hour together eating and talking about their days. Nyssa had been concerned, and brought up some dinner for him. She leaned against his desk, watching him carefully but not saying anything. She waited for him to open up, and she knew he eventually would. Leo was her younger brother and he couldn’t keep anything to himself for too long if it was really bothering him. When he started fidgeting, his hands wringing around themselves, she knew it was something serious. He had exploded, talking with his hands, waving them madly as he released his feelings of anger, betrayal, and confusion into the air. She listened, eyebrows drawn together, not making a sound. When he couldn’t find the words to express how he felt he sobbed, body shuddering angrily as he gasped and cried and screamed. She pulled him into a hug, soothing him with soft whispers and gentle coos.

When he was done, his body still jerking violently as he inhaled, she pressed a wet kiss to his cheek. She had assured him that it was okay, what he felt was valid, and what he was going through was normal. She told him he should talk to his friends about it, explain what he was experiencing instead of hiding it from them and keeping it to himself, telling him it was unhealthy and could cause a rift in their friendship. He wasn’t wrong for having these feelings of hurt, and he could feel however he wanted to about Jason, his friends would understand. His older sister also advised he look into his feelings towards boys, do some research in order to truly understand himself. Before she had left she told him she would always be there for him, and that she would support him and nothing could change that.

Still, after that day Leo couldn’t help but notice how Jason looked at Piper as if she was the only thing that mattered in that moment or how he seemed to take every opportunity to have some kind of physical contact with her. He was probably overanalyzing the situation, hyperaware of the two and their relationship since Piper’s bus confession, but if he wasn’t he didn’t want to ruin everything between the three of them so he kept the information to himself.

He did however, look into his feelings. He spent hours on the internet, and after about a month came to the conclusion that he might be gay. He told Nyssa, and she smiled at him with pride burning in her eyes. He hadn’t told anyone else, unsure of how to approach the topic with his friends, and so he kept the information to himself. The longer he held it back the harder it got to share, and the more worried he became that his friends might not understand him. He wished he had listened to Nyssa and just told them everything from the beginning. When Piper had asked if he liked any girls he had felt embarrassed and panicked. He always chose girls way out of his league who he would never have a chance with, shamelessly flirting and pulling out the cheesiest pick-up lines. His actions towards said girls were always more exaggerated when Jason and Piper were around.

He finally came clean to Piper over the past summer when she turned on his laptop and saw his porn preference on the window he had accidentally left open. The words flowed out of his mouth like verbal diarrhea, trying to explain what he had been experiencing, how he had felt embarrassed of his sexuality around them, throwing the past four years of pent up feelings and self-loathing at her. He felt guilty, apologizing profusely even after she had told him her romantic feelings for Jason were long gone and that he shouldn’t be sorry because his emotions and feelings are just as valid and important as her own. He made her swear not to tell Jason any of this, and she assured him he could tell their friend when he was ready. Piper never tried to force him to come out to Jason, but she did look disappointed when he made it a point to exaggeratedly flirt with other girls in front of their friend. It made him feel a bit guiltier than he had when she didn’t know, though he had no idea why.

He hadn’t realized how hard it had been to keep that secret to himself, how much it had weighed on his and caused him to distance himself from his friends. Having his friend support him made him feel more confident, and he was able to share things that were really bothering him with her, knowing she would keep everything he shared between them just like it had been before the whole bus confession incident. This also helped him with relationship with Jason. He hadn’t noticed at the time, but he had distanced himself from the two of them, and it had really hurt Jason who had no idea why. It took the entire two months before school started back up for their Junior year, but the trio’s friendship was healthier than it had ever been.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fun fact, the idea for this story came to me in the shower, and I have a general outline for some pretty major plot points after just a day.  
> not beta'd and written in less than twenty-four hours, so feel free to leave any errors you notice in the comments so i can fix them.  
> when i posted the summary i wasn't expecting the kind of response i got, and i actually ended up finishing thus chapter faster than i originally thought i would. i just wanted to get this background stuff out of the way so i could get down to the nitty gritty of this fic, so the next chapter will be more story than just a bunch of information. leo and his radio gig will be mentioned next chapter if you're interested or curious about that, wink wonk.  
> also, i've also started a tumblr to share updates on this work and some love for the fandoms i'm in if anyone is interested. its http://that-fandom-addict.tumblr.com/


	2. Leo Montana

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> summary: when the trio get together to study they never really get any studying done

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own any of the characters, all Percy Jackson and Heroes Of Olympus characters belong to Rick Riordan.

Leo couldn’t stop fidgeting, drumming his fingers against his knee as Piper smeared the final bits of the face mask over his chin. She had a podcast of one of the old ‘Love Mechanic’ segments from the local radio station, 107.7 _Apollo Jukes_ , playing over her portable speaker.

“There, when this dries all you have to do is wet a towel with warm water and wipe it off,” she explained before she stood up and moved towards her desk to turn up the volume.

“Do we seriously have to listen to this?” he groaned, tossing his head back into Jason’s chest with exaggerated annoyance.

“Yes, we do have to listen to this. Maybe hearing some decent advice will help with your lack of a love life,” she retorted. She sat on the wood chair by her desk, scrolling lazily through the feed of whatever social media app she had open. From the way she would double tap and scroll, Leo assumed it was Instagram. He sighed, loudly for added effect, and smirked when she rolled her eyes and put her phone back down.

“It’s not as bad as you’re making it out to be. Pipes and I actually really like this radio segment. You might like it too if you gave it a chance instead of always bailing on spending Friday nights with us,” Jason said. He twisted his body the best he could, looking over his shoulder at the blond.

“You actually listen to this? Are you seriously telling me that _the_ Jason Grace really likes spending his Friday nights listening to this crap?”

“Yes, he is, and he’s right. If you actually listened to it you might like it too. Sadly, you’re a horrible friend who skips out on us with the lamest excuses.” Piper had reemerged before him, tweezers in hand. He had been distracted by Jason’s voice, not noticing their friend disappear into the bathroom. He had been tricked.

“And what exactly do you think you are doing with those, Beauty Queen?” He asked, ignoring the sting her words carried.

“Listen, I love you, but your eyebrows are getting a bit out of control. You’re starting to look like Nancy Bobofit.” When he opened his mouth to protest she flattened a finger between her eyebrows to indicate a unibrow. “Nancy Bobofit, Leo.” He knew resistance was futile and the girl would end up getting what she wanted in the end, he had always been unable to say no to her.

“Okay, fine. Just clean up around the edges, I don’t want them thinned down like last time.” That had been a disaster. Halfway through the summer she had insisted that he needed some facial maintenance, and he had stupidly agreed. She had plucked his eyebrows until they looked like thin lines that had been drawn on his face with a sharpie.

He squeezed his eyes shut, flinching away when she plucked the first hair.

“Stop squirming, I’m going to mess up your nail polish if you keep moving,” Jason warned. He scooted closer, pressing his chest into Leo’s back as he leaned forward. The young Hispanic could hear his pulse thrumming in his ears, and he held his breath. He had almost forgotten Jason was painting his nails.

He was settled between his legs, his left hand held in place on his friend’s knee as a coat of prostitute red nail polish was layered onto his nails. Jason, also sporting the green face mask, was wearing his black rimmed glasses, his cheek pressed into Leo’s shoulder as he leaned forward to squint at his nails to make sure he hadn’t damaged his handiwork.

“Right-o. So, quick question. Why are you guys giving me a makeover when we were supposed to be studying? Not that I mind, but like, why lie about studying, because I seriously need help with AP Chem.”

“Relax you nerd, we will study in a bit. After we make you pretty, Jason here is going to tutor us in Chemistry, as promised. Which might actually take longer than originally planned, seeing as how you seem incapable of sitting still and all.” Leo’s eyes watered as she yanked out another eyebrow hair, his body jerking back.

“Ouch woman, lay off my eyebrows already,” he yelped.

“Seriously Leo, stop moving. I’ve spent too long on your nails for you to ruin them now.”

“Geez, damn,” he snorted. When he saw that Jason was serious he rolled his eyes, quickly adding, “Okay, okay, _fine_ drama queen. No more moving.”

He listened to the podcast, continuing to drum his already painted fingers against his friend’s knee.

* * *

 

_”Yo, you’re on the Love Mechanic, so what’s your relationship woes?”_

_“I started college about three weeks ago, and I have a boyfriend that I don’t really want. I met him the first night at a party, and he invited me to pregame at his apartment the next day. Somehow, we ended up really drunk, and he slept over at my dorm. He was really cute, and I guess I like being around him, but I feel like he is moving way too fast. After like four days of knowing each other he told me he saw a future with me that he had even told his mother about. He kind of assumed we were in a relationship, and introduced me to everybody as his girlfriend, but it makes me really uncomfortable. He also always takes my phone and checks my snapchats and texts, and I’m not cool with that. I’ve never been in a relationship before, and I don’t think I’m ready for one just yet. I don’t know how to tell this guy without hurting him.”_

_“So the most important part of a relationship of any kind, romantic or not, is obviously communication. If you tell somebody things are great, they will think things are great. You can’t expect anyone to always understand how you’re feeling, whether you’ve known them for years or three weeks. If you’re not feeling a romantic relationship with this dude then it is unfair to both of you to not tell him. He can’t find somebody who is ready to be in a committed relationship if you let him think you are that person for him, and you can’t experience college and find out who you are if you tie yourself down to someone who’s feelings you don’t reciprocate._

_“Just a little side note, I think, and this is a personal opinion, that this relationship is moving just a little bit fast to be healthy. You knew him for four days and he assumed you were in a relationship without consulting or confirming it with you first. Not to mention him constantly checking your phone is a pretty major red flag and is hella creepy, especially after knowing him for about three weeks. You should seriously talk to him about how these things bother you, and don’t listen to him if he tries to brush off what you’re saying or tells you that he’ll change if you stay with him."_

* * *

 

Piper hit him in the face with a hand towel, startling him out of the zone he had gone in to. Jason was standing up behind him, sweatpants low on his hips and white shirt pulled tightly over his chest as he stretched. It was unfair, the things Jason did to him but had no accountability for.

“I wonder who the Love Mechanic really is. Like, I bet it’s a college girl in a sorority.” He looked at Piper’s reflection in the mirror as she spoke. The girl had sat on her unmade bed and set her backpack beside her. She leaned against the wall, looking down at her phone. She held the phone low in her lap as her fingers flew across the touch screen.

“Oh, and why do you think that?”

“They talk like they’ve experienced a lot in life, you know. They obviously aren’t pulling this advice out of their ass, it’s really good and actually really solid.” She explained, not even looking up from her phone. “It’s like the kind of advice Drew would give if she wasn’t acting like she was too cool to be my sister.”

“I think that’s the whole reason behind the secrecy of their identity, so that the listeners can see the Love Mechanic as whoever they would accept the advice from. Some people see them as a big sister, others’ see them like a best friend, the possibilities of who they could truly be are endless, and so they are somebody everyone can relate to.” Jason said as he finished wiping off the face mask and put his glasses back on. Leo trailed after him, lazily collapsing on the bed beside Piper. He spread his legs out, his body from waist down hanging off the mattress.

“Hey! Isn’t Nico’s boyfriend, like, Apollo’s kid or something? Do you think he has any idea who the Love Mechanic really is?” Piper asked as she pulled out her Chemistry binder from her backpack, leaning against Leo’s side.

“Nah, I asked Will and he has no idea, says his dad’s really secretive and refuses to even talk about it with him.”

“Maybe it’s somebody who is in our high school. Like, they want to live a normal life and nobody would even suspect that they’re the Love Mechanic. Kind of like Hannah Montana, you know? Get the best of both worlds.”

“Didn’t you just say you thought that it was some chick in a sorority?”

“It’s called speculation Leo, look it up.”

“Okay, enough arguing over the identity of the Love Mechanic you dorks. So, what do you guys need help understanding?”

“I’m still not understanding why we can’t use the m-one-v-one equals m-two-v-two on certain problems. Like, what are the rules on the whole titration thing?” And with that the subject of the identity of the Love Mechanic was no longer on any of the trio’s mind.

“Same here, I got these problems wrong because I used the wrong formula, so how do you determine which equation to use when?”

While he listened to Jason explain titration problems he tried to fight the guilt he was feeling. It was frightening how easy it was getting to lie to his friends. Piper probably hadn’t realized how close to the truth she was with the Hannah Montana theory, Leo knew she was just throwing out theories like she always did, but it made him nervous that she might knew more than she let on. Which was impossible, because only a few people knew what he was hiding, Apollo’s son, Will Solace, being one of said people. Will knew exactly who the Love Mechanic was, after all he was the one who introduced Leo to his dad with the concept for the segment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay, so this story is is going to be thirty chapters long, and I have a general outline for events with a lot of references here and there. i finished this chapter pretty quickly, and hopefully i'll have the next chapter up before Monday. also, i really need to come up with chapter titles.  
> once again, this was written pretty fast and unbeta'd, so feel free to leave me any corrections you might see that i need.  
> EDIT: Barbra's comment gave me the idea/was for this chapter title so props/credit to them!


	3. Dad and Daddy at Denny's

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> summary: the trio eat with some of their underclassmen and learn more about the family dynamics of the group

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own any of the characters, all Percy Jackson and Heroes Of Olympus characters belong to Rick Riordan.

 

 

“Seriously repair boy, why do you always bail on us on Fridays? It’s starting to become a problem, you either miss it completely or you’re like two hours late.” Piper was right, but it wasn’t like he could tell her the reason he missed out on listening to the popular radio segment was because he was the Love Mechanic they so admired.

“Lay off him Pipes, you know Leo has to help around his dad’s shop,” Jason said. He slid into the booth next to Leo, their thighs pressing against each other. If it bothered him how hot his friend’s body was he sure didn’t show it, and Leo knew he emitted heat like a space heater. He felt guilty, he usually got out of work early enough that he should have come over. It was just that he was usually so tired after a week of high school and recording the radio segment after school, that he usually went home and passed out on the couch.

“Besides, all you losers do is listen to that stupid radio show on Fridays, so it isn’t like I’m missing all that much,” he added. He blew bubbles in his chocolate milk as he looked the girl dead in her eyes.

“I think you like the Love Mechanic but are too afraid that it’ll hurt this ‘macho man’ façade you put on to admit it.”

“Oh please, this,” he indicated to himself, “is not a façade beauty queen. This is one-hundred percent macho and manly.” He flashed her a smile, putting his drink down on the table as he leaned back into his booth.

“Yeah, okay, whatever makes you sleep at night Valdez,” she scoffed. She too leaned back, arms crossed over her chest. He could tell she was angrier than usual that he had skipped out on them, and he felt the urge to make it up to her.

“Listen, I’m sorry that you feel like I’ve been neglecting our friendship lately. I’m coming out to the party tonight, I promise I won’t ‘back out’ again.” He used air quotes as he said back out, but she didn’t take it as him being any less sincere. She was too focused on the fact that he agreed to go out with them to a party, tension melting away as she gave him her one of her biggest smiles. The pressure that had been building in his stomach, the anticipation of some kind of argument, released and he finally relaxed.

“But you don’t drink.” Jason interrupted, looking at him with concern. He shrugged, breaking eye contact to look down at his hands, his fingers tracing circles onto his leg.

“You don’t drink either Grace. Oh gods Leo, you’re going to have so much fun. We could pregame at my place, mom doesn’t really care if we drink.”

“Pipes, do you really think this is a good idea, surrounding Leo by alcohol at his first party when he’s never drank before?”

“Who says I’ve never had alcohol before? You don’t know me, you don’t know my life story,” he teased. He knocked his shoulder into the blond’s side lightly, ignoring the buzzing in his arm where they touched.

“Leo, I’ve grown up with. I was literally there when you went through puberty and your voice cracked. I know everything about you, you dork.”

“Calm down _dad_ , little Leo is growing up. You should be happy, he’s trying new things.”

“What’s up you awesome nerds?” Connor interrupted, sliding into the booth beside Piper. His features were more elfish than Leo’s (stop calling me Santa’s little Mexican elf Piper, I swear to God), and he had a mischievous air around him that didn’t seem to fit with his curly chestnut hair and innocent blue eyes.

“What’s this about ‘little Leo growing up’? Is he finally hitting puberty, because it’d be nice to be able more than just the kiddie rides when we go to the amusement park,” his older brother, Travis joked. He threw himself in the booth beside his brother, letting his arm hang over the back of the seat as he gave the group a cheshire grin. The only difference between the Stoll brother’s was a few inches in height, and even then the two still looked like twins.

“Screw off Travis!” Leo snapped, flipping his underclassman the bird. “Can somebody tell me why we hang out with him again?”

“My incredible personality and dazzling good looks,” Travis replied in a sing-song voice. He put his chin in the palm of his hand and leaned across the table, fluttering his eyelashes at the Hispanic teen. Leo reached out and smacked his arm just hard enough that he hit his face on the table. It looked like a fight was about to break out when another person joined the group.

“Seriously dude, there is no room for you and your manspreading here.” A girl with crazy red hair grumbled as she bumped her knee into the eldest Stoll’s leg, pushing him over enough to slide into the edge of the booth. Rachel was decked out in her normal paint speckled outfit, her jeans covered in sharpie drawings and self-made holes. There was something fluorescent smeared over her cheek, and some dried flecks of paint in her hair, but the girl still somehow looked incredible. Even Piper would look homeless if she tried to pull that look off.

“Hey Rach, where is Neeks?” Piper asked, leaning out to talk across the two boys in between them.

“He said he was going to be a few minutes late because he had to pick up his boyfriend.”

“Oh great, sunshine boy is joining us.”

“Shut up Connor. Just because Nico likes him does not mean you get to be bitter about it.”

“Wha- I’m not bitter Rach.”

“Don’t listen to him, he’s been locking himself in his room and blaring emo music. The only time he does anything different is when he turns on that radio show, the Love Engineer or whatever,” Travis said. He had nudged his brother playfully with his shoulder, but it was easy to tell the younger Stoll was not amused by the way his entire face went red in a matter of seconds.

“The Love Mechanic, you uncultured swine.” Connor shouts, whacking his brother on the back of the head. Leo rolls his eyes and opens his phone up and sending a snap to Jason. ‘These people take that show you like so seriously.’ He gets a reply before he can even turn his phone off and shove it back into his pocket, surprising him because he hadn’t even seen the blond pull his phone out.

‘Seriously Leo, you’re sitting right next to me. Why not speak to me out loud like a normal person?’

‘Because I don’t want to face the wrath of Connor Stoll over a cheesy radio segment, duh.’ He replied, rolling his eyes at his phone. He caught the corner of his friend’s lips lift into a small smile out of the corner of his eye. His chest felt really warm, and the two continued to chat back and forth via snapchat, ignoring the rest of their group.

‘What, you afraid of the little Stoll now?’

‘Um, hell yeah? He’d probably put Nair in my shampoo, the little shit is getting creative. He learned from the best.’

‘Who, you?’

‘Um, yes!!! Who else do you know that could have taught him how to rewire the fire alarm so that it would go off in the middle of his test?’

‘Need I remind you that you ended up getting in trouble for that whole fiasco and not him?’

‘Sometimes the apprentice can outsmart the master. Anyways, I got him back with the whoopee cushion prank.’

‘Which was so juvenile and basic, by the way. I would expect something much more elaborate from the self-proclaimed master.’

‘It only made it that much funnier that he fell for one of the oldest tricks in the book.’

“Why are you guys smiling at your phones. Please tell me that you’re not texting each other as you sit next to one another, because that would be super lame.” Leo shoved his phone back in his pocket as Nico and his boyfriend slid into the booth on the other side of Jason. Nico was in his usual vintage aviator jacket, his skeleton tee barely visible underneath. His shaggy, black hair was sticking up in the back, making it obvious that he had gotten out of bed sometime within the last hour. His boyfriend, Will, waved at Leo with a wide grin. His own messy blond hair was darker in color than Jason’s, his frame not as big or muscular.

“Not texting, snapchatting, Nico. Get with the times,” Leo snarked.

“Hi! Welcome to Denny’s, can I get your order? For those of you without a drink you can order them now and I’ll get them out to you as soon as possible,” a young waitress interrupted whatever comeback Nico had. She looked mildly concerned by the large group who were being rather loud. Everybody ordered their food, Jason and Leo deciding to split the Sticky Bun Pancake Breakfast. Leo would get the pancakes and hash browns, Jason could have the eggs and bacon.

“Gods, dad and daddy are so gross,” Connor groaned, throwing his head back to look at the ceiling.

“Um, what?” Jason asked, confusion written across his face.

“Dad and daddy. Y’know, you and Leo,” Rachel answered nonchalantly.

“Whoa, no way. Why would you call us that?” Leo stuttered, his face heating up.

“Well, for one, Jason is the dad friend. He’s the most level headed, he takes care of us, and he’s like the most mature out of all of us.” Nico said. As he listed off the reasons he leaned into Will who looked like he wanted to be anywhere but in this conversation. Nico and Will had been dating for a little over four months now, and while Will had been friends with Leo and Nico before, he had never really been a part of this group.

“Okay, that I can see, but why am I daddy?” Leo asked.

“Yeah, shouldn’t he be like that creepy social recluse uncle?” Piper added. He kicked her under the table, and she simply smiled innocently in as she kicked him back.

“Because you’re hot. While Jason is dad friend tm, you’re total daddy material. Like, I wouldn’t mind getting punished by you.” Travis interjected, and the reactions of the group were mixed. Leo, and Nico had choked, not expecting that response, and looked disturbed while Jason, Piper, Connor, and Rachel burst out into laughter. Will simply shook his head and tried to hide his flush by pretending to text someone on his phone.

“Travis you are disgusting, you are human filth.” Nico said bluntly.

“Oh my gods, you think Leo is ‘daddy material’. Holy shit, that is like comedy gold.”

“Wait, so all of you guys have been calling us dad and daddy? Connor mentioned it but every single one of you knew the difference.” Leo asked, his face felt like it was on fire, and it was probably cherry red at this point.

“Yes,” Nico answered. He avoided eye contact, trying to play the situation cool. Leo’s strangled cries made everyone at the table laugh, even Jason, that filthy traitor.

“What about me?” Piper asked, pointing to herself as she calmed down from her laughing fit.

“You’re like that cool aunt who gives us really juicy stories about dad and daddy that we can use later as blackmail material.” Rachel answered and Piper put a hand over her heart.

“Awe, I have trained you well my young apprentice.”

“I hate all of you,” Leo grunted, sliding down into his seat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow, 68 hits in two chapters and 9 kudos? like, what the heck, thank you! also a big thank you to Barbra for commenting on every chapter I've posted so far, I really appreciate it. comments mean SO much to me, i like that kind of feedback.  
> this chapter is more of a filler chapter, but it was necessary for the future. i have the general outlines for the next five chapters, and there will be more Valgrace romantic interaction in the coming chapters.  
> once again, unbeta'd so feel free to correct me if you see any errors in my work.  
> EDIT: thanks AppleJuice for pointing out my spelling error, I really appreciate it!


	4. Leo's Hips Don't Lie Jason

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> summary: Leo goes to his first party and really wishes he hadn’t

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own any of the characters, all Percy Jackson and Heroes Of Olympus characters belong to Rick Riordan.

After lunch with the underclassmen the trio split to get ready for the party. In the end Leo didn’t pregame with Piper and Jason was half an hour late picking him up.

“Are you really sure you want to come tonight. I know we were upset about you skipping out on us on Fridays, but I don’t want you doing anything that you’re uncomfortable with to try and make up for it.” He did sound really concerned, and he looked like he felt guilty. Leo rolled his eyes as he buckled his seatbelt, bumping their shoulders together with a reassuring grin.

“Nothing to worry about Grace. I want to do this, honest. If things get to be too much I’ll ask you to get me out of there. I trust you man.” He said, fingers drumming along the door. “Besides, it’s not like I’ll get hurt or anything, right?”

“I would never let you get hurt,” the blond stated like it was some kind of unbendable truth. He nodded, more to himself than Leo, before he shifted gears and left the driveway. The first few minutes was spent in a comfortable silence, watching as scenery blurred outside the window. The radio was low and barely audible, but Leo could still make out the rift for Despacito. He cranked up the volume, startling Jason so badly that he jumped in his seat and swerved. “Give me some warning next time,” he said, trying to sound stern, but that was all he had to comment on as he rolled up to the stop light.

Leo didn’t pay him any attention, softly singing the lyrics in sync with the radio. He rolled his hips in the seat playfully when Fonsi’s voice came on, singing in fluent Spanish. He knew Jason was having a hard time paying attention to the road with his exaggerated actions, glance flickering between his friend dancing sensually in his passenger seat and the stop light. When the chorus came on he belted it out, practically screaming.

“You really like that song, don’t you?” He joked when it finally faded into another song and the traffic light changed from red to green.

“Almost as much as I like you,” he teased. He didn’t realize he had voiced that until Jason rolled his eyes and laughed. He felt his face heat up, and he looked out the window again so he wouldn’t see. Nothing else was said as they approached the house, Jason parking behind somebody else on the curb.

The party was at their friend’s place. Percy Jackson was a senior and he was also captain of the swim team. He was so passionate and skilled that he would probably end up swimming for team USA in the Olympics. Percy was friendly, him and Leo got along well enough, but him and Jason were ‘bros’. Their relationship honestly made him a little bit jealous at times, but he knew he didn’t have to worry too much about Percy seducing and taking away Jason since he was dating another senior, Annabeth Chase. The two were such polar opposites that it was sometimes hard to think about them being friends, let alone a couple. They had supposedly known each other since forever, attending the same summer camp together for years before Annabeth moved out here and he finally asked her out.

Leo really liked Annabeth, she reminded him of Nyssa, so he found it easy to talk to her about the serious things. His freshman year she had approached him for help with a project she was working on. When he asked why she hadn’t gone to someone older she had simply replied that she only worked with the best, hence why she had come to him for help. She seemed to believe that he was one of the most capable people in school, his sophisticated pranks proving he was mentally gifted and able to pull off large and complicated projects when he put his mind to it. It had meant a lot to him, and they’d been friends since. She was one of the first people he told about his sexuality after Piper, and she hadn’t treated him any differently since he came out to her.

The first thing he noticed when he got out of the car was the music, reverberating in his chest and causing his heart to pick up in speed. Percy lived with his mom and step-dad, both of whom were out of town with his little sister for her swim meet, but they had given him permission to throw a small party as long as he cleaned up before they got back. From Piper’s party horror stories he had expected to see drunk teens streaking through the streets covered only in fluorescent paint, so he was a little comforted from what he was really faced with. Outside the house looked perfectly normal, a moderately sized brick home in a suburban, middle class neighborhood. It was a lot nicer than Leo’s house where the white paint was chipping and flaking off, more of a faded yellow than anything. He could see teens through the window, talking and taking sips out of red solo cups, but nothing too wild. The tension he hadn’t known he’d been feeling released and he relaxed as they made their way into the house.

Music was playing from a speaker in the living room, and Piper came up to them as soon as she saw them. “Took you guys long enough, what the heck were you doing?” She joked, a large smile on her face as she threw her arm over Leo’s shoulder.

“My fault, I had to do something with Reyna for student council after lunch and lost track of time, so I was a little late picking Leo up. Here, watch him so I can go grab us drinks.” He said calmly, disappearing into a room Leo guessed was the kitchen. He could tell his friend was already a little buzzed before they had arrived, the slight sway in her body giving it away. She switched between humming the song and talking his ear off until Jason returned, a red and blue solo cup in hand. He passed Leo the red one and kept the blue one for himself.

“Why the different colors?” He asked, an eyebrow raised at his friend as he sipped experimentally from his own cup. It was bitter, and he wanted to wince, but he also didn’t want to look like this was his first experience drinking, even if it totally was. He took a deep breath, building up his confidence as he drank slowly with steady gulps. He had heard somewhere that pacing helped, and he didn’t want to get black out drunk at his first party.

“Water.” Answered the blond, lifting the blue cup in response. “I have to be responsible, after all. I am the designated driver tonight, I have to be in my right mind to handle you later.” The conversation ended there, and while Piper stayed by his side for most of the night, Jason had drifted off somewhere else. He had drank enough to feel his heart beat in his chest and feel a warm air around him while still not being completely drunk. Piper kept handing him more alcohol every time he finished what he had, and he was starting to feel ready to leave. He let his friend know, telling her goodbye in case he didn’t get the chance too before he left. She was staying over with Annabeth, who, like Jason, usually remained sober during parties. He went off on his own, stopping every now and then to drink whatever somebody offered him. He was definitely drunk now, feeling sluggish mentally and like he could run a marathon physically.

He wasn’t sure where he was heading, his feet carrying him through a hallway he wasn’t sure he was allowed down. He heard noises, two people talking, and he followed the sound, swaying on his feet. Percy and Jason leaned against the wall, both boys talking, Percy giving Jason advice on what he should do to get scouted for soccer and sharing what getting pursued by colleges for swim was currently like for him. Then the conversation shifted in a way that made a slightly drunk Leo feel uncomfortable eavesdropping in on.

“Enough about me and college though man, what about you? Any luck with your special someone?”

Jason had a special someone? What exactly did the older teen mean by ‘special someone’ anyway? Jason had a special someone that he told Percy about but not Leo? While lost in his thoughts he nearly missed the way the blond shifted uncomfortably, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked at the swim captain. “Nah man. I just, I can’t. It’s to complicated and I don’t want to mess things up, you know? I don’t know what to do.” And wow, Jason was having a deep conversation about a topic with Percy that he had never even breeched with Leo. The two never talked about their feelings, Jason making no indication that he had ever liked anyone and Leo flirting flippantly with every attractive girl who had crossed his path (I’m gay Piper, not blind).

“Maybe you should call in and get advice from the Love Mechanic, God knows you need all the help you can get.”

“Shut up Percy.” Jason groaned, tilting his head back. Leo felt his chest constrict, and he was backing out the way he came. He felt something weird and painful shift in his chest at the idea of how wrong and confusing it was that his best friend might actually call in to get love advice from him when he hadn’t even talked to _him_ about it yet.

He didn’t remember much after that, after he had gone back to where the majority of people were and drank until he could no longer tell what was a good idea and what wasn’t. He felt like running down the street in his birthday suit, revealing himself to the world as the Love Mechanic. A hand on his shoulder caused him to jump about a foot in the air as he let out a very manly and dignified (seriously, shut the hell up Piper, I’m manly af) screech.

“Leo, are you okay?” Jason asked. He placed a hand over his chest, breathing heavily and looking at the floor, anything to calm himself and avoid looking at his undoubtedly concerned friend.

“Yeah, of course Jay. I’m Gucci, everything’s Gucci . Never better. On top of the world,” he mumbled, words slurring together. He swayed, and the blond caught him before he fell on his ass.

“No, you’re really not.”

“Seriously, I’m Gucci. Just go away and let me live babe.”

“Leo.”

“Jason.”

“I need to get you back to my place and into bed,” he said. He kept a steady grip on Leo’s elbow, leading him so that he did not bump into any of the other party goers.

“Leave me alone, I can fuckin’ walk by myself.” Leo continued to throw out expletives, but he sounded more broken then angry. He pulled his elbow back, pouting and leaning into the wall. His shoulder hit a picture frame, tilting it, but he made himself stand straight without Jason’s help. “Please, leave me alone, just enjoy the party. I don’t want to ruin your night,” he whined.

“Leo, you are my best friend. I really care about you. I mean, I really care about your safety. I can’t just leave you alone,” Jason replied. He sounded exasperated, and Leo felt a bit guilty.

“Fine, but I warn you,” he leaned forward, wagging a finger in the blond’s face, “I don’t know what I’m doing and I really want to get naked.” He tossed an arm around his friend’s waist, leaning into his side. Jason managed to say goodbye to Percy and Annabeth, who raised their eyebrow but said nothing, before leading Leo away to his car.

“We’re here,” he said as he unlocked the car and opened the door to the passenger side, moving Leo as little as possible. He set the Hispanic teen into the seat, leaning across him to start the car. “Is there anything you want before I start driving?”

“Butt warmer, I want my ass to be as hot as yours.” Jason flushed but complied, shaking his head as he pressed the seat warmer button to activate it. “Anything else, Princess?”

“I want my hoodie off.” He lifted his arms up and leaned down so the blond could help him get out of the comfortable purple hoodie.

“Is this my hoodie?” Jason asked as he pulled it off of Leo, freeing him from it.

“Yeah, stole it. Smelled like you, is big on me. I don’t have to wear any underwear when I sleep in it.”

“You stole my hoodie? You know if you had just asked for it I would have leant it to you.”

“Yeah, but I liked the idea of being a thief. Made me think one day I’d advance enough in my theif-ing ways to steal your heart.”

“Exactly how much did you have to drink?” Jason asked as he leaned over again to buckle his seatbelt. Leo reached out, running his calloused thumb over the blond’s cheekbone before moving his hand to cup the back of the his head. The hair near his neck was shaven short and felt soft under his palm, he rather enjoyed the sensation.

“’M not sure.” He whispered loudly as he leaned in. Jason seemed to be frozen in place, his hand hovering near Leo’s hip. The smaller boy pressed his lips against the other’s, fireworks exploding in his chest. It wasn’t like he had imagined it would be many times before, it was awkward and his nose kind of hurt because he had gone in at a weird angle, but it was perfect. Or, it was perfect until Jason pulled away, expression unreadable. Leo’s hand fell down his chest, and he twisted his hand into the front of the blond’s shirt. “Am I not a good kisser?”

“You’re drunk Leo.” Jason replied, as if that answered everything. He tenderly removed his grip, stepping far enough away that he couldn’t be caught again. Leo started crying silently when he shut the door. He made his way around the front of his car. He noticed the tears when he opened the door, and he brushed them away with his thumb. When the boy tried to look down at his lap he gingerly lifted his chin up. “Hey none of that. You’re not a bad kisser.”

“Promise?” Leo asked, his face looking hopefully as he leaned in to Jason’s touch.

“Promise.”

“Then can I kiss you again?”

“No. You’re really drunk, I don’t want to let you to do anything you might regret when you’re sober.”

“Fine, then hold my hand.” When he tried to refuse Leo became uncooperative, struggling to unbuckle his seat belt so he could throw himself out of the car. He finally stilled and calmed down when Jason gave in and held his hand by the console.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> feel free to leave a kudo or comment, either is really appreciated!  
> as always, unbeta'd and written in a short period of time, so feel free to correct any errors you see in my work. i read through to try and make sure it's fluid, but tell me if you think the scenes in this are too choppy or too much information and i'll try to fix that for upcoming storries  
> story time now for anyone interested in my life.  
> okay, so i am currently a freshman in college, and i have my first exam tomorrow which is crazy and i'm a little worried, ngl. also, the flu was passed around my room. it hit my suitmates and roommate first, and i am its latest victim. updates may slow down a bit until this weekend or next week, but i'll try to post as often as possible for me. hope you all enjoy this chapter and that you have a fantastic day. if you're being affected by harvey make sure to stay safe!


	5. Breakfast at Jason's

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> summary: Leo wakes up on a cloud.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own any of the characters, all Percy Jackson and Heroes Of Olympus characters belong to Rick Riordan.

Leo squeezed his eyes shut tighter, trying to will the light to go away. He had no idea why it was so bright as his bed was pushed against his window to avoid this problem in the morning. He wiggled his way under the soft comforter, burying himself up to his nose. When he couldn’t keep his eyes closed any longer, body buzzing with energy that needed to be burnt off and the persistent chirps from birds outside the window preventing him from falling back into oblivion, he gave in to consciousness. It was when he reached out for his phone and found that it was not in the area near his that he noticed something was off.

The bed he was in was too large to be his. He had owned the same twin sized mattress since elementary school, his feet hung over the edge when he slept, and this bed was at the very least a queen. Not only that, he was sinking into it, and he had never owned a tempurpedic mattress. He knew where he was, the light problem slowly making sense. The only problem was that he couldn’t remember how he got there or most of the night before. He pushed his body up the bed, using the pillows as support to keep himself up.

When he was finally awake enough to think, he made sure he was aware of his current situation. He was wearing one of Jason’s soccer shirts, far too large on him and barely hanging on to his right shoulder. The black shirt was one of the blond’s favorites, a normal tee shirt with white print that shared their high school name above ‘varsity soccer’ with his last name and number on the back. Leo lifted it up by the collar and sniffed, the shirt smelled like his friend’s cologne and deodorant. A pair of loose grey sweatpants were tied around his waist and rolled up near the bottom, still too long for him and hanging over his feet.

His curls were damp, and he felt fresh rather than grimy and sweaty, so it was safe to assume that at some point last night he had showered and changed into Jason’s clothes, he just wished he could remember when. The furthest back he could remember was overhearing Jason talking to Percy about this secret crush he had. He chewed the inside of his cheek, trying to ignore the uncomfortable heaviness that settled in his stomach.

He didn’t have to try for too long, because a few minutes Jason peeked his head into the room. “Hey, just checking up on you. How’re you feeling?”

“Like I just got hit by a truck,” Leo joked, wincing at how hoarse his voice came out. Jason reached out and dropped some aspirin in his hand, and he tossed them into his mouth like tic tacs, following it up with the glass of water he was offered. “Thanks. Hey, am I in your clothes?”

“Oh yeah, I wanted to get you out of the bath as soon as possible and into bed so I just put you into something of mine, hope you don’t mind. I tried to pick out comfy clothes, but nothing of mine really fits you. Your clothes are in the dryer so they should be ready soon enough if you want to change back into them.” Leo felt his whole body heat up, and he resisted the urge to burry himself underneath the comforter.

“You gave me a bath?”

“When we got back last night you vomited all over yourself. It was pretty gross, you managed to get it in your hair, and when I left to get you a towel I came back to you nearly drowning in my bath tub. Do you not remember any of last night?”

“No, not really. Did I do anything else really stupid or gross last night?” He watched Jason, his hands nervously twisting into the hem of the shirt. Jason hesitated for a moment and looked as though he couldn’t figure out if he should tell the truth or spare Leo’s feelings by lying.

“No,” he said. He wouldn’t meet Leo’s eyes now, chewing on his lip the same way he always did when he wasn’t telling the truth. The scar above his lip was more noticeable when he did that and he had to resist the urge to press his lips against the scar. It would be awkward and way to close to kissing Jason for his liking.

“You’re a shitty liar, you know that,” he joked, his throat feeling like it was closing up as he playfully shoved Jason’s hip. What stupid thing had he done that he couldn’t remember doing? Had he started to strip?

“And you’re a shitty drunk. Anyways, I made breakfast if you’re hungry. There’s scrambled eggs and bacon and I also pulled out some tortillas and shredded cheese in case you wanted to make breakfast burritos.” As sick as the thought of food currently made him feel, his stomach growled loudly, and he went red immediately. “There’s a toothbrush in my bathroom you can use. I know you like to brush your teeth before you eat.”

“I love you Jason Grace.”

“You better, see you down stairs.”

He rolled out of the bed, glad that Jason’s sweatpants were too large on him as they protected him from the cold floor because the Grace household was always kept at sixty-two degrees. Leo had never understood how anyone could live like that, especially when their floors weren’t carpeted. He waddled over to the bathroom, stretching out and yawning as he went. He had always been a little envious of Jason, having a bathroom to himself while he had shared the one bathroom upstairs with both of his siblings his entire life. It seemed like he always had to poop whenever Nyssa was in the shower, which he was sure had probably caused irreparable damage to his bowels from trying to hold it, and he had to pee in the sink whenever Jake hogged the bathroom to manscape. Whenever Jason came over to his house he had first use of the shower. He never had to shower in cold water, he never knew true pain.

He looked at himself in the mirror as he brushed his teeth, toothpaste smeared around his lips as he scrubbed. His dark curls were still damp, but was drying out in the normal disheveled way. His eyes were swollen, and other than the fact that he felt like death, he would have never been able to guess that he had been out all night. Nyssa would probably assume that he had only stayed over at Jason’s like he had said, playing video games all night. When he was done he made his way to the kitchen, being careful not to slip as he went down the stairs.

Leo had been in Jason’s house more times than he could ever count. Its interior was Romanesque, white marble floors, arches in all the doorways, and large columns with a gold trim on the bottom that extended from the floor up twenty feet to the ceiling. His home was beautiful, but it felt so empty. There was an endless amount of rooms, all with no decoration other than the necessary furniture. No baby pictures decorated the wall, no child hood art, the house had no personality to it. Only one room was different from the rest of the pristine house. The door had been spray painted black and blue, staining the wall around it as well. _Thalia’s room_. Leo was pretty sure the reason Mr. Grace hadn’t repainted was because it was one of the only things of hers that remained after she left.

Jason was at the kitchen table when he finally made it down, fingers flying furiously across the screen of his phone. He looked up once to nod at him before he went back to his business. Leo threw together two breakfast burritos, nuking them in the microwave before sitting down close enough to Jason that their knees knocked.

“Who’re you texting?” he asked, tearing into his burrito and leaning closer to get a view of the screen of the phone.

“How many times do I have to tell you that it’s gross when you talk with your mouth full.” The blond said, tilting the screen away from the Hispanic boy. Jason normally let him see everything he was typing, even let him share his input, but he tried to ignore it and not to read too much into his action.

“Okay,  _dad_.” He rolled his eyes, leaning back in his chair and pressing his knee into the blond’s thigh.

“Don’t give me that attitude young man.”

“So where’s your dad at this week?” He chewed his food slowly, watching as Jason finally set down his phone and held eye contact.

“New York. Hey, I figured when your done we could watch something on TV or play video games if you wanted.” If Jason didn’t want to talk about it he wouldn’t push him.

“Yeah, do you still have She’s the Man DVR’d?” He finished his second burrito, belching loudly. “My compliments to the chef,” he added quickly when his friend raised an eyebrow.

“Of course, what kind of question is that? Just don’t tell Piper, she’d delete it.” Jason answered as Leo moved over to the sink, rinsing off his dish before putting it in the dishwasher.

“She’s the Man is a work of pure cinematic genius, I can’t believe Piper doesn’t like it.” He said as he shut the dishwasher. The two migrated to the media room, Jason turning on the projector as Leo grabbed the remote and began looking for the movie in the recordings. He flopped back onto the large couch, spreading his legs out.

“Scooch,” Jason commanded. He nudged Leo’s leg with his knee, sitting on the couch beside him. He welcomed the body warmth, melding into his friend’s side. The blond draped his arm over the back of the couch, his arm brushing against the smaller teen’s neck. For Leo, nothing had felt so right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Breakfast at Tiffany's reference in the title, what's good.  
> as usual, nonbeta'd, so feel free to let me know of any spelling or grammar errors you notice.  
> yay for three day weekends, i'm hoping to get quiet of bit for this piece done, so wish me luck.  
> also, please keep Houston in your thoughts and hearts, as well as everywhere else affected by Hurricane Harvey. my parents and sister are stuck out there, and the damage is pretty bad.  
> OKAY  
> so fun news time for anyone who reads this section of my stories. congrats to you.  
> i am writing a valgrace star wars crossover, and i am so pumped. for now i will be posting up one shots that develop the roles and characters, and will hopefully post the main story soon, but yeah. i mixed together some ideas from the prequels and original trilogies, and you have a sith lord who wants revenge and a former jedi who just wants to get by. some of the characters may seem OOC, but the drives are basically the same thing, plus it is an AU anyways, so...  
> but yes, expect parts of that to be dropping soon. oneshots may contain other ships, such as jasiper or caleo, but the main piece will have valgrace angst and yep. i am pretty excited. it's going to be a little mature though, as some of the themes are dark and force sensitive jason and leo creates many steamy opportunities... lol and the description of torture. warnings will be posted in chapters.  
> but yeah, there's that. i'm trying to post at least once or twice a week, but college is kind of picking up and exams are starting up in the next to weeks so i may temporarily slow down. enough about me though, i hope you all have an incredible day. when i posted this i had 170 hits, 22 comments, and 21 kudos. i never expected this kind of outcome for anything i would share on here, so seriously, thank you all. enjoy  
> EDIT: thank you AppleJuice for helping me with parts of my story flow better. i really appreciate the help :)


	6. Trouble in Paradise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> summary: Leo is probably the biggest fuck up he knows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own any of the characters, all Percy Jackson and Heroes Of Olympus characters belong to Rick Riordan.

“Travis was on fire, I lost my left shoe, and Connor pissed his pants from laughing so hard.” Leo was currently retelling the latest prank he and the Stoll’s had pulled. The trio had just gotten back from Principal Chiron’s office, who had been unsure how to handle the situation. In the end, they were sentenced to serve a week’s worth of lunch detention with Mrs. Dodds, Leo’s evil statistics teacher, and Connor was given a pair of sweatpants found in the gym’s lost and found. The home economics class, however, was canceled indefinitely.

“Don’t you have Spanish during fourth period?” Jason asked, his expression unhappy as he looked at Leo. Piper was cackling beside him, leaning against the wall for support.

“Hm? Oh, yeah. I told Mr. Mendez I had to crap and he let me out.” He finished shoving his notebooks into his locker, slamming it and pulling his backpack up over his shoulder. He rolled his eyes at the blond’s disappointed look, sighing dramatically. “It’s not like I was missing anything anyways, I’m Mexican. I spoke Spanish before English.”

“This is the year colleges are going to be looking at when you apply, you need to be more serious.”

“Jeez Jase, you’re worse than Nyssa. I’m doing well enough, back off,” he snapped. He was actually doing better than well enough, his only grade under a ninety-three was an eighty-eight in his AP English class (and really, that was basically an A because it was on a five-point GPA scale, so stop stressing Nyssa), but that was probably a failing grade in comparison to Jason’s usual perfect ninety-nine averages.

Piper’s laughs died out quickly, and she stood between them. “That’s enough you two, don’t do this here. We’re in the hallway, people are looking. Jason, you need to talk to Leo. It’s unfair for you to take this out on him when he has no idea what happened with your dad.”

“Something happened with your father?” Leo asked, anger melting away into concern. He had never really liked Jason’s dad, he pushed him too far as if he had learned nothing from what he did wrong with Thalia. The blond struggled with severe anxiety, something Leo blamed on his father. It was as if he didn’t understand that Jason was a human, and what he asked from him was almost unachievable. He wanted his son to be perfect, demanded it of him. Jason looked uncomfortable, and Piper groaned.

“He had a fight with his dad when I was over last weekend. About you, actually, and it’s still bothering him.” She fixed a look at the two of them that seemed to say _‘boys’_. When they finally made it to their English classroom they ended up in their seats. Some kids were in the room but kept to themselves as the trio settled into the back.

“About me? I don’t get it, did I do something?” He looked at Jason, trying to understand what he might have done that could have caused the blond to argue with his father.

“He thinks Jason isn’t being serious enough about his future and implied it might have been because of you. I think it bothers him more that his dad insulted you than what he said about him. When you do things like this, no matter how hilarious it is, you give his dad more ammunition to use against you.”

“Wait, he thinks you aren’t serious? Jase, you work your ass off. Shit, man, I didn’t mean- I mean, I didn’t know- I had no idea that I was causing tension between the two of you.” He stuttered, suddenly feeling guilty. His stomach twisted, and he began to fidget with the strap of his backpack. Jason already had enough problems with his father without Leo adding to them. Seriously, Jason worked so hard to please him, and as usual, Leo ruined everything.

“Listen, it's nothing. What he says about you doesn’t mean anything, okay? I know I’m doing my best, I know you care. I’m sorry I acted that way with you. He’s just- you know how my father gets, what he does to me. He doesn’t see how hard you work, he just sees the ADHD and ignores everything else. You’re seventh in class, he just can’t see that you’re really great.” Jason groaned loudly, falling into his seat and dropping his backpack on the floor. He shoved his face into his hands, his glasses pushing up to his forehead. “It’s just so frustrating.”

“Have you talked to Thalia lately?” Piper asked. She was sitting on top of the desk in front of Leo, turned so she could look at the two of them as they spoke. Jason slowly shook his head no, his hands moving to pick at the wood chipping on the corner of his desk. “I know your dad tries to keep you two apart, but you really should give her a call. She’s been through this before too and might be able to help you, give you some advice.”

“Miss McLean, I was not aware you were in this class.” The shrill voice of Jason and Leo’s English teacher interrupted whatever Jason had opened his mouth to say, causing all three teenagers to jump.

“Ah, sorry, I’m on my way out right now.” Piper smiled, slinging her backpack over her shoulder and leaving the classroom quickly. Leo slid down in his chair, resisting the urge to groan and bang the back of his head against the wall behind him as his teacher started the class. Jason was listening to the lecture, so he was left to entertain himself. He pulled out his beat-up Nintendo DS from his hoodie, turning down the sound as he started it up. He was so caught up in beating Team Galactic in Pokémon Diamond that he missed Jason’s warning signal, a loud cough.

“Mr. Valdez,” the teacher spoke loudly, causing his head to snap up as he fumbled to shove his DS back into his hoodie pocket, “pay attention to my class.”

Travis Stoll snickered, turning in his seat when the teacher looked away. “Yeah. Play with yourself later, daddy.” He made an obscene hand gesture, and Leo felt his face heat up. He felt hypersensitive to the innuendos the older Stoll made after his daddy comment at lunch two weeks ago. Luckily, this was the only class he shared with the underclassmen who had tested up a grade level over the summer.

“Shut up Stoll,” he hissed, shifting to rest his chin on the desk, his hands still shoved into his hoodie. He lasted a solid three minutes in silence before he rolled his head, resting his cheek on his desk so he could stare at Jason. “I don’t think she likes me,” he whispered. He was about ready to roll his head to the other side to try Travis when Jason finally responded, copying something down in his notebook.

“Oh really, what makes you think that?”

“Not sure, might be the fact that she calls me Valdez,” he answered giddily. Jason hardly ever spoke to him in English as he knew it was Leo’s worst class and he ‘ _r_ _efused to be a part of the problem_ ’.

“She calls everyone by their last names, not just you.” Jason looked over at him just long enough to flash him one of those smiles that caused his stomach to flutter uncontrollably.

“Valdez, I will send you out into the hall if you don't stop being a distraction to the class. And Grace, I expected more of you.” Leo straightens out immediately. Whatever light and fluttery thing that had been alive in his stomach a few moments earlier died, and he wanted to yell at himself for being so stupid. Jason looked embarrassed and ashamed. He had caused that. He tried to apologize in a rushed whisper, but the blond refused to acknowledge as he kept his eyes trained on the teacher. He knew Jason hated when people said they expected more from him, knew from many conversations it made him feel like nothing more than a failure. Mr. Grace was right, he was a distraction.

When the bell rang, indicating that the period was over, Jason was gone. He hadn’t waited for him, hadn’t even looked at him, and though Leo knew it wasn’t as big a deal as he was making it out to be in his head, that it probably wouldn’t even matter by tomorrow, he felt sick.

“Trouble in paradise?”

“Seriously, shut the hell up Stoll,” he spat out. He swung his backpack over his shoulder, feeling a bit satisfied when it knocked into Travis and the boy stumbled slightly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as usual, unbeta'd, so feel to leave corrections on any errors you find (i am trying out a program recommended to me by AppleJuice so, hopefully it's more bearable to read than normal)  
> i would like to take a moment to wish a happy birthday to my queen, you go Bey  
> this chapter felt like a filler when i was writing it, but i really wanted to show more of Zeus and how what he says affects Jason, and so this chapter ended up happening. Next two chapters are supposed to be lighter and more family/friendship based, so we'll see how that goes. honestly, i love writing dialogue more than anything, but i feel like i don't write enough actions, ugh.  
> well, i hope you all had a great labor day and stayed safe! 'til next time


	7. Jason's the Rachel to Leo's Ross

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> summary: Leo seems to really attract blondes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own any of the characters, all Percy Jackson and Heroes Of Olympus characters belong to Rick Riordan.

Leo loved Piper’s house. It was a one-story building far from the high school, the front lawn perfectly kept. The outside was stone, not brick like most of the other houses on the cul-de-sac. As soon as he walked through the garage door he was in the kitchen, the duo always raiding the pantry before going to her room. There was always some kind of sweet candle burning, subtle but still there. Small picture frames with school pictures and family portraits decorated the walls, pictures from Drew’s dance recitals and Lacy and Piper’s pageants days were concentrated in one place, and Leo liked to call it the ‘Wall of Fame’.

None of the sisters looked alike, Lacy had long blonde hair, stunning emerald eyes, and was fully white. Piper was mixed, her Cherokee half from her father’s side. She had darker skin, her body was more muscular than skinny, and her soft brown hair was cut in uneven layers and often not brushed through. Drew, the eldest, was half-Japanese. Leo swore her hair was made out of midnight that had been woven to look like silk, and he had obsessed over it in fifth grade. She had a fairly light complexion and there was no body fat or muscle to be found on her. It made sense that they were half-sisters, alike and yet different at the same time. Piper held her father’s last name, McLean, as had Drew, Tanaka. Lacy refused to take a last name, as her father was not a part of her life and her mom had remarried twice since she was in second grade.

Leo liked Lacy the most out of Piper’s sisters. Since she was four years younger than him and Piper he had helped babysit the girl when they were in elementary school which had resulted in him forming a brotherly bond with the young blonde. She had never gone through the dreaded _middle school phase_  and kept a positive and friendly attitude, somehow not outgrowing the dorky older boy. She claimed it was because he benefitted her, bringing her food whenever the trio went to Piper’s after eating out. He knew it was because of his dashing looks and charming personality.

Where Piper and Lacy were laid-back Drew had a kind of condescending air about her. She was popular and she didn’t attempt to hide that she knew it. While she was snobby and bratty, she never treated Leo too shitty. They got along in that they coexisted. Drew would call him if she needed help with her car and had taught him about proper skin care when he got his first pimple. Sure, they talked, even texted sometimes, but they operated outside of the other’s social circles and there was little overlap. It was more than a friendship of convenience though, their relationship was genuine but not consistent. They stood up for each other when it really mattered, something that had been proven when he had broken an ex-boyfriend’s nose who had hit her and she had kneed the same guy in the nuts when he called Leo a fag.

Lacy’s door was open, the younger girl sprawled out across her bed with her laptop resting on her stomach. She had headphones in her ears, probably watching another makeup tutorial on YouTube, Leo figured she had reached that period of middle school where girls started wearing mascara and lip gloss. He lifted his hand in a half wave and she nodded at him in acknowledgment, pulling one of the headphones out of her ear as she moved to sit up. “Want a gummy bear?”

“You know I do.”

Her blonde hair fell over her shoulder as she reached across to her nightstand where she pulled one out of the clear bag that rested there. “Think you catch it at this distance?” She asked.

“I’ll never know if I don’t try,” he answered. She tossed the candy through the air with enough precision that Leo didn’t have to move his head to catch it in his mouth. Both tossed their hands up into the air, whooping. “Success,” he cheers. “How was school today kiddo?” She groaned loudly before hitting him in the forehead with another gummy bear. “Woah, kill shot. That bad?”

“No, my day was great.” She ran her fingers through the tips of her hair, biting the inside of her cheek the way she did when something was really bothering her. He was about to ask when she blurted out, “How many times do I have to tell you I’m not a kid anymore? I’ve had my period, I’m basically a woman now _Leonidas_ /.”

“Your thirteen Lace. You’re still in training bras, chill out.” Piper interrupted, coming up behind Leo and pushing him towards her room. Lacy’s face was red, and she shoved her headphone back into her ear, muttering something under her breath.

“Geez, what’s with kids wanting to grow up so quickly these days. You were still daring me to eat mud pies at thirteen.”

“I think she has a _crush_ on you.” The way Piper said it made her sound like a kid on the playground talking about _c_ _ooties_.

“What? On me? No way.”

“It’s _so_  obvious Leo. When I was thirteen I did the same things for Jason. She only leaves her door open when she knows you’re here and she gave that Kane guy a black eye when he tried to take one of her gummy bears.”

“That doesn’t mean anything,” he tried to argue. Piper just hummed and gave him a look that told him that it _most_ _definitely_  meant something.

They passed Drew’s room, and while her door was open, the girl was nowhere to be seen. Clothes were tossed over the bed and desk, makeup scattered around the floor in front of her closet doors. Leo could picture her this morning sitting in front of the sliding glass doors, carefully applying her mascara with that weird look girls got on their face when they coated their eyelashes with the liquid goop. Pictures of the Senior and her sisters were on her dresser in frames while pictures with her friends were strewn up around the room with twine and paper clips.

“Where’s Nancy Drew?”

“She’s hanging out with Malcolm today.” Piper answered, opening her bedroom door.

“Wait. Malcolm, as in Malcolm Pace, Annabeth’s adopted brother _Malcolm_?” He asked, dropping his backpack on her floor and throwing himself across her bed.

“Yes Leo, _that_  Malcolm. They’ve been studying together a lot recently.” Piper shrugged her own backpack off into her desk chair.

“Yeah, but you said they were hanging out.” He kicked his shoes off, not moving from his position on her bed.

“They’ve been making out a lot lately too.”

“Woah, how long has that been a thing?”

“Probably like,” she paused, tilting her head as she made mental calculations, “four months? They’ve been flirting since May, but they went on their first date last weekend. She’s been really happy lately, but hasn’t really told anyone.” She plopped down on Leo’s back, wiggling as he groaned exaggeratedly.

“Jesus lady, you really need to lay off the pizza and tofu burgers.”

“Oh, shut up Valdez.” She rolled off of him, laying on her back and facing the ceiling. She pulled her phone out of her pocket, starting up her Beyoncé playlist on Spotify, and a comfortable silence settled between them for the next few minutes.

Piper’s room felt safe. It was always a mess, piles of worn clothes near her closet and bathroom doors, but it wasn’t dirty by any means. Sure, there was nail polish stains on her carpet and the walls had hand prints smeared over the faded green paint, but there was never any dirt or dust and it always smelled like strawberries.

“Hey, beauty queen?” He whispered, rolling over onto his side so he was facing her.

“Mhm?” She responded, turning her head to meet his eyes. He fidgeted, nervously chewing on his lower lip.

“Do you know, I mean have you heard- does Jason like anybody?” He looked down at his hands, unable to look her in the eyes any longer. He felt the mattress shift as she sat up and when he looked up she was leaning against the wall.

“Where’d that come from?”

“I, um, at that party, you know, the one from like three weeks ago?” He asked, voice muffled by her comforter. When she nodded he sat up and looked her dead in the eyes. “I may have kind of overheard him talking to Percy. Percy may have said something about Jason calling the Love Mechanic for advice on how to woo his crush.” Piper squirmed, biting on her cuticles as she thought about what to say.

“If you already know Jason has a crush on someone, why are you asking me?”

“Because he hasn’t said anything about it to me!” He whined, leaning his temple against her knee and drumming his finger on her ankle. “I’m, like, his best friend. Shouldn’t he come to gossip with me or some shit when he like-likes somebody?”

“You know, maybe Jason isn't ready to tell you-“

“Has he told you yet?” He interrupted. Piper grimaced, shifting her weight. She wouldn’t make eye contact any longer.

“Leo,” she mumbled.

“Oh my God, he has! And you didn't tell me, seriously Piper?” He shouted, moving away from her. His head was pounding and he was unable to figure out how he felt that Piper _knew_  and hadn’t told him, that Jason hadn’t told him _fi_ _rst_.

“It's not my place to share that with you,” she said.

“But it is! You _knew_  I like him Piper! You could've told me that he liked somebody else-“

“Would you have been okay with me telling Jason exactly who it is that you like?” He flinched away from her, her words like a slap in the face. He felt betrayed.

“That's different and you know it. I like Jason, _fuck_ Piper!” He didn’t know why or when he started, but he was crying.

“Look, I keep what you come to me privately for to myself. I do the same thing for Jason. You guys are best friends, but there's just things you aren't ready for each other to hear about yet.”

“ _Pi_ -“

“It’s the same, no matter what you two talk to me about. You don't want Jason to know that you’re gay yet. You talk to me about how you like him with the expectation that I won’t share the information of our _private_ conversations with him. What makes you think that I should treat the private conversations I have with Jason any differently? When he comes and talks to me about the person he likes I’m under no obligation to share that information with you Leo. Those are things for the two of you to share with each other when you are ready.”

It was obvious she was upset, her arms crossed over her chest. He felt bad for getting aggressive with her, she hadn’t done anything wrong. Really, she had just been a good friend and he went off on her for it. His stomach twisted and he picked at some lint on his socks. “I just, how long have you known?”

She hesitated, kicking her feet under the comforter. “Since the beginning of August.”

“Shit, August. Why didn't you tell me it was useless to still like Jason?” He shoves his head under his shirt, wishing he could disappear.

“Because at the end of the day the two of you still have a very good chance of ending up with one another.” She pulled his shirt down, looking at him carefully.

“Not if he likes somebody else!” He groaned.

“Ross and Rachel ended up together you know. They dated other people, but in the end they realized they were perfect for each other. Rachel got off the plane, didn’t she?” She was rubbing small, reassuring circles over his knuckles, and Leo felt his tears stop.

“Are you _seriously_  comparing Jason and I to Ross and Rachel from Friends? Doesn’t Ross cheat on Rachel?” She ran her thumb across his cheek, wiping away the evidence of tears gently.

“I'm just making a point that there is a chance of the two of you happening,” she smiled softly. He sighed, shaking his head and pressing the palms of his hands against his eyes for a few moments.

“Thanks Pipes.” He mumbles, letting his hands drop to his side. He knocks their knees together, a large smile spreading across his face. “For being a good friend and all that shit.”

“Yeah, yeah. No problem. Now go clean up princess, I want to watch How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days before your sister comes to pick you up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as usual, unbeta'd, looked through for obvious grammatical and spelling errors, but feel free to correct me if you see anything. still trying out a program recommended to me by AppleJuice.  
> lol, i had half of the first chapter of my Star Wars crossover AU written and my computer deleted it when it updated. rip me. i'll probably have something else up before that ever sees the light of day, oops.  
> oh well, i hope everyone has an awesome and productive week. love y'all awesome nerds


	8. Leo Just Wants to Leave

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a filler chapter in which family issues are revealed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own any of the characters, all Percy Jackson and Heroes Of Olympus characters belong to Rick Riordan.

Leo let his arm hang towards the ground, watching the ceiling fan circle around and around and around. Really, he could think of a million better ways of spending his Sunday than in his dad’s shop in the dying days of summer. There was no A.C. in the auto shop, the corrugated metal walls only trapping the heat inside like an oven. It was one of those rare days when everyone was working, even though jobs were coming in slow. Nyssa was in the back, running tests on a Subaru Outback. Jake was next to their father, taking apart a Porsche Fuhrmann. He had wanted to take figure it out, but the old man had pulled his older brother off a 2012 Nissan Altima instead. Leo had finished the simple break pad replacer, and had spent the last hour bored out of his mind.

Normally his father would let him fix up his current self-indulgent project, a 2004 SV650 with a faded gold paint job that he had lovingly named Festus, during the mid-day lull, but instead had stuck him up front in case any customer’s wondered in. He wanted to work on something, his skin itching to do something more productive than sweat behind the crappy PC at the front desk. He was playing Ke$ha’s “Rainbow” over the speakers of the desktop, humming along to it and thumping his hand softly against the desk in beat with the song. He would never admit it, but the song has quickly become one of his belt-out-in-the-shower songs. The sound of a bell jingle interrupted his boredom and indicated a new customer. He sat up faster than he should have, resulting in him sliding off of the countertop at an awkward angle.

“I can’t believe Jason hangs out with a dork like you.” The voice is familiar, the way it demands attention and respect, and Leo feels his mood lightening faster than he would ever admit to.

“It can’t be, is _the_ Thalia Grace in my dad’s auto shop?” He asks, a wide smile on his face. A girl with buzzed black hair stands across from him, arms crossed across her chest and lips pressed into a thin line. Even though she is wearing little-to-know makeup, Leo thinks she’s beautiful. The Grace siblings have that kind of unfair natural beauty that makes them look like they were the descendants of Greek gods.

“The one and only, dweeb.” She breaks, a goofy grin making itself at home on her face. She looks different from before, more of an edge to her style, which seemed almost impossible to Leo. Thalia had always worn edgy clothes, somehow making goth look hot. She had never taken to the pastel dresses her father had gotten for her, and Leo still remembered the time she stained her skin dark violet when she tried to dye all her clothes by hand when he was in seventh grade. Mr. Grace had been furious, but Leo still couldn’t remember a time when she looked so free and happy.

“Seriously, what’re you doing here? I thought you were up in Cali, Jason said something about art school and a cute girlfriend. Um, Calypso, right?” He had never seen Thalia look flustered before, so when she turned a bright red and started stuttering he couldn’t help but get flustered himself.

“I’m taking a few weeks off for a road trip, you know, for inspiration and stuff. Calypso is actually from around here, so I decided I’d surprise Jase with a visit on my way to go see her. Heard our father has been giving him a really hard time and I know he’s been having some issues with his anxiety. Something went wrong with Artemis on the way here though, and she broke down on the highway. I knew your dad’s shop was close, so I walked here.”

“Ah, no good. I told you to get rid of that old station wagon years ago.” Nyssa yelled across the shop as she approached them. She wiped her hands on her jeans before throwing her arms around the girl in a tight hug.

“Oh, shush. She’s not old, she’s just-“

“A 1983 Jeep Cherokee? That’s kinda old Thal.” Leo’s sister leaned her hip into the counter and Thalia shoved her hard enough to make her stumble back. “Hey, it wouldn’t be so bad if the previous owner was as good to your car as you are. I’m surprised she’s lasted this long without any problems. Where is she at?”

“Here, I’ll take you to her.” And with that she was leading Nyssa away. Thalia never announced when she was coming in, just sort of showed up. It caused a lot of tension when her dad was actually home, especially since the two hadn’t talked in nearly three years and both refused to break that streak. She would rip open scabs that were just starting to heal and leave without warning. Still, he knew he could never hate her, especially because she actually did help Jason out with the problems he had with his father. It was complicated, as things with the eldest Grace sibling always tended to be.

Nyssa, his older sister, had opted out of college in order to take care of the family. She had the opportunity to go to a fancy college up in California near Thalia for an almost full ride scholarship, but knew that the men in the family would not be able to survive on their own without her help. She had gone to work full-time under their dad, and Leo knew that the business would be her own one day. He was worried at first, that she’d be mad at him, hate him. He knew she regretted it somedays, when she locked herself in the bathroom and cried until she physically couldn’t anymore in the shower.

Jake had also stayed close to home, but that was more because he got seriously injured in a football game his senior year and most of his scholarship offers got pulled back. He was doing physical therapy in town, and he went to the local community college too. He worked at the shop whenever he was free, but he tended to keep to himself for the most part. A lot of his friends were off doing better things far away, and Leo knew he was jealous.

Leo refused to get stuck in the same cycle that had seemed to haunt his family for the last three generations. He was getting the hell out of town, going to school somewhere far, far away. He knew it made him selfish, and sometimes the thought made him a little guilty, but it usually gave him the motivation to carry on. There was a light, an idea that maybe he could accomplish something, be something more.

That was why Thalia was one of the people Leo related the most too, even though she was like a tornado, tearing through places with little thought of how she affected others. She got to leave whenever she wanted, live for herself instead of her father. The first time, when she had run away, had been the first time Leo realized he may be able to get out of the shitty town too, do something for himself. Maybe when he leaves he can take Jason with him, away from his father, away from the stress of expectations.

But for now, he was stuck in this stupid town.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not at all worth the wait, but the next few chapters definitely are. leo as the love mechanic, some stoll/leo interaction, a kiss scene, some high school musical, and some musical business.  
> as usual, un-beta'd, so feel free to correct anything you see.  
> this is kind of a filler chapter.  
> the reason this update took so long was because i lost about 9,000-10,000 words i'd done for this work due to onedrive errors, and i've been too busy to do much. my exams are hitting me hard, and while i've made an a on most of them, i made a 70 on my chem, and it caused me to have a really bad anxiety attack. i got to see my mom this weekend though, she came up for parent week, so i'm pretty happy about that. just been a little sad since she left, but i'll get through it.  
> for anyone concerned about any of my other works:  
> i will be posting a few more chapters to this before i focus on anything else. my starwars crossover will be up eventually, i have a lot of fragments written for it but nothing complete yet. the color series will continue in my wild west universe and then move on to another universe. for now i'm writing some additional scenes for my one-shot about hanahaki disease, but that's about it.  
> yeah, i'm actually a major mess rn, but i wanted to drop some Leo family stuff and wanted to write about thalia, so this trash came to be. enjoy.


	9. Sad Bro, Sunshine, and Mr. Stoll Your Girl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> summary: Who knew Connor Stoll was into that? Certainly not Leo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own any of the characters, all Percy Jackson and Heroes Of Olympus characters belong to Rick Riordan.

“Hello, you’re live on the Love Mechanic,” Apollo said. He grinned across the recording room at the so-called love mechanic who was hanging sideways out of his chair. Leo wasn’t very pleased with this week’s show so far, Will had accidentally changed the tuning of his voice modifier before the live show started, and over the radio he sounded like a chipmunk on helium whenever he talked. The thing about being in the audio room was that he could hear how things sounded before they were tuned. His voice would automatically be tuned so as to keep his identity hidden, but if someone he talked to called in he would know who it was. This was part of the reason why he and Apollo had agreed upon not picking callers who he may know or have a personal connection to. The high-pitched autotuned sound was honestly difficult to listen to, which would hardly be a problem if any interesting calls came in. He had spent the last sixteen minutes on the phone with an elderly woman deciding on what gift to buy her husband. It wasn’t bad, per se, just boring and almost unbearable to deal with. He could feel himself slowly dying.

“Oh, um, hey.” It was timid, lacking the normal confidence and smugness, but Leo knew that voice. He moved to sit up faster than he should have, falling out of the chair with a ‘oomf’. Connor Stoll had called in to the Love Mechanic. Never had he expected the underclassman to actually call in. He knew the younger Stoll was a fan of the show, knew he was having trouble with Will and Nico being together because he had always liked Nico, but had never thought in the time he had been on the radio that he would be giving love advice to any of his friends. It was part of his deal, this shouldn't be happening.

“Hey there! So, what’s the problem?” Apollo asked, also picking up on who the caller was. He leaned forward, a playful grin on his face. He too knew that Nico and Connor almost had a thing before Will was involved and always loved being involved in his son’s love life drama. Leo was already uncomfortable, glad that Will and Nico were nowhere nearby, had no idea this was Connor. Everything about this felt wrong, and his gut twisted uncomfortably. Why was the older man allowing this to occur? He needed to stop it, lie about running out of time or something.

“I, um, it’s a long story.”

“We’ve got time.” Apollo said, and Leo struggled to breathe as he tried to calm his nerves. His heart was in his throat and his hands were sweaty, all he really wanted to do was end the call and act like Connor Stoll hadn’t felt the need to get advice from a stranger over the radio.

“I liked this guy for a while, and we kinda had a thing going. He’s really cool, and we’ve been friends forever. We were never romantic, but our relationship was always kind of flirty, and we were kinda touchy, which meant a lot to me because he has a lot of problems with, like, physical affection.” Leo could picture Nico’s face going red, could almost see him squirming in his seat beside Will if he knew who it was talking and whom it was he was talking about. “Then, there’s this other kid. Um, I’ll call the first one sad bro and the second one sunshine to clear up future confusion I guess.

Anyways, sad bro was all into sunshine, talking about him all the time. It made me a little uncomfortable, like, it was obvious he was catching feelings for sunshine, and I was being left out, you know? So I just act like its whatever, like it doesn’t really hurt, and spend my time in my room listening to sad songs that make me cry and eating all this trashy junk food, because if sunshine makes sad bro not sad than who am I to stay in the way?

Except sunshine bro started becoming a part of my friend group and I saw him and sad bro together more often, and I don’t know. I just, I wanted to hate him for the longest time, but he’s a really great dude. Like, really great. He’s got this killer smile, and he really cares about everyone, and he’s just kinda, yeah.” Leo shifted awkwardly in his chair. This was not going the way he thought it would. He assumed Connor would rant about Will and about how Nico was meant to be his and blah blah blah, but no. It sounded more like a love confession. “I think I love him.”

 _Holy shit_ , it was a love confession. Well, Leo would always remember what Piper taught him, to assume is to make an ass of you and me.

“Wait, so you’ve caught feelings for your ex-crush’s boyfriend?” Apollo interrupted. Poor Connor had no idea that they knew who he was, that the two of them were hearing this super personal confession. For the first time in his short career, what he was doing made him feel physically ill.

“Well, yes. But I could get on and move past that, you know? Its just that, I like both sunshine and sad bro a lot and I think about them, and I feel guilty because I think about them when- well, I think about them.” Leo could hear himself screaming in his head, and he wanted to rewind and prevent the last few minutes from happening. Wanted to stop this before it got so out of hand. Maybe it wasn’t _that_  out of hand, but it sure felt like it, what with Apollo sitting across from him, not doing anything whatsoever to prevent this mess from going on. He now knew things he wished he could unknow. “But,” Connor added on quickly, “its not just like a sexual thing. I really care about them, and I just am really deep in this shit, and I need advice. Like, I really need advice.”

“Well,” Leo squeaked, the voice on the radio probably accurately represented how he currently sounded, “you’d be surprised by how common your problem actually is. While I’ve never experienced it, I’ve heard some advice from listeners and read through my emails about some of their personal experiences with this kind of a situation. If you’re feeling this way, you need to sit the two down and talk to them about this. Tell them how you’re feeling, explain the situation to them. It sounds hard, but like I always say, communication is a _hundred_ percent necessary. If you don’t tell them, they’ll never know, and you’ll keep this huge secret to yourself and you’ll be the only one hurt in the end.

While I can’t speak for your friends, as I don’t know you or them, anyone who cares about you should be willing to listen. It may make things awkward, but it could give you a clean end if they reject you, and it could reveal whether your friends are real or not. And hey, who knows, maybe things might work out in unexpected ways. I know one of my previous callers sent an email about how one of her friends went through the same situation as you with her and her girlfriend, and the two of them actually both had feelings and felt the same way about said friend. If that is the case for the three of you and something you all are interested in pursuing, I’d research polyamory and make some ground rules. Only if both partners consent though. I can only really advise all my listeners to keep an open mind and support their friends and family no matter their sexuality or romantic situation as well as to be true to themselves.” The whole thing made his head hurt.

“Oh wow, yeah. I never thought of that. And even if they’re not down for it,” Leo ignored the way Connor’s voice broke, “at least I’ll be able to move on and not think about the what-ifs. Thanks for the solid advice!” The confidence in his voice had grown back, and it was easy to hear the smile in his voice.

“Feel free to write me a follow up email, I’d love to know how things go.” Apollo added, letting Connor say goodbye before he shut off the phone line. “Well, that’s all this week for the Love Mechanic, feel free to download our previous shows and tune in next week for some more advice.” He put on music, turning off the mics. Leo threw his headphones on the table, standing up fast enough that he saw black.

“We had an agreement!”

“Now Leo,” Apollo tried to soothe him with his voice.

“No, we had an agreement. No one I knew on the show. I would never have to give my friends love advice if I didn’t want to. You were supposed to talk to me about it first!”

“Yes, but-“

“No buts Apollo! If Connor wanted me to know, wanted us to know, how he felt, he would have come to us. This is a complete betrayal of his trust. It’s not fair, to him or to me.”

“I understand where you’re coming from, I do, but-“

“If you understood you wouldn’t be trying to validate going against something we clearly agreed on. That, you _know_ that wasn’t right. _Don’t_ tell Will, _don’t_ tell Nico, and never, _never ever_ tell Connor.” He felt dirty, felt disgusting for hearing something that wasn’t meant for him. Leo just wanted to curl up into a ball and cry, wanted to crawl into a hole and forget that he just heard one of his friends unknowingly confess his feelings for two of his other friends.

When he got home he threw himself into his bed, shoes and all still on, and fell asleep immediately. Maybe he couldn’t escape his problems, but at least he could ignore them for a little while.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as usual, un-beta'd, so feel free to correct any mistakes you may see. (AppleJuice, i promised i read through this like three times trying to appease you and not mess up so badly i replace a 0 for an o. i'm sure i still messed up somewhere, lol)  
> okay, so far in my life i have had an anxiety attack due to my suitemates smoking weed in the room, one of my suitemates have had their life threatened, i hate my roommates bc they did shit in my room when i spent the weekend with my mom, my dorm's staff has no idea how to handle properly 18 y/o who smoke weed in the room every single night (night staff is not trained right) and writing is my only stress relief. and i miss my mama and my family (my lil sis is wearing one of my sweaters and refuses to was it bc it smells like me)  
> i think of other AUs instead of finishing my own, so i'm trash, and i like complaining in this bc it is nice to just rant it out and idk. its just nice and relaxing to type all this stuff out for me.  
> OH AND ALSO  
> i love y'all and i hope y'all have a great time. the KISS is coming up soon, and nobody is ready. nobody will ever be ready


	10. Troy and Gaybriella, Name a More Iconic Duo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> summary: leo is breaking free, and it is all caught on snapchat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own any of the characters, all Percy Jackson and Heroes Of Olympus characters belong to Rick Riordan. I also do not own High School Musical.

Leo loved High School Musical and he loved the Stoll’s seventy-five-inch T.V., so of course he accepted Travis’s invitation to watch a High School Musical marathon at the Stoll’s house. He was there often enough that he let himself into the townhouse without knocking after walking his bike into the garage, greeting Mrs. Stoll with a warm smile and quick hug. She always loved when he came over and always insisted on spoiling him, explaining the two snack trays and homemade sausages she had laid out on the countertops. She always told him he was too skinny, that he needed more meat on his bones.

 The brothers were laying out in the living room, Connor on his back with his feet hanging over the back of the couch, eyebrows scrunched together as he worked on what Leo figured to be homework he had procrastinated. Travis was sitting on the floor, leaning against the couch and was playing with George and Martha, the family’s two corgis. The Stoll’s seemed to be the ideal American family, two kids, two dogs, a nice house with a white picket fence. Fancy art decorated the walls, and the interior of the house was open and lavishly decorated. While it was nothing like Jason’s house, it was obvious the Stoll’s lived comfortably. Leo had no idea what the adults did for a job, but they were always talking about jobs in hushed whispers, so he suspected they were world class thieves. That, or they worked at the local post office, they were both there enough for either explanation to be true.

When Travis saw him he gently pushed the two dogs away from him and patting the area beside him for Leo. They never sat on the couch when they watched musicals, both boys got too involved and always moved around too much. The last time they had flipped the couch over and Leo busted his lip on the granite countertop that separated the kitchen from the living room. There was still tiny bloodstains on the wall, only really noticeable to those who knew to look for them.

Connor groaned playfully, flipping backwards of the couch and landing on his stomach over Leo’s lap. He tossed his binder onto the couch, giving up homework for the night.

“Giving up so soon?” Travis teased, shoving his brother off their guest’s lap.

“Nah, I just knew I wouldn’t be getting anything else done, what with you two theatre nerds making me watch High School Musical with you and all.” Connor exaggerated a sigh and eyeroll, propping himself up against George who had settled down beside him. George harrumphed and rolled over causing the youngest Stoll to hit his head on the ground. “Ow, shit! C’mon Georgie,” he groaned.

“Connor Stoll, language!” His mother said as she passed through the living room to get to her office.

“Sorry ma,” Connor said. His head hung slightly and Leo could see the light pink dusting across the top of his ears.

“Nobody is forcing you to watch it, you can go upstairs you know.” Travis snorted, pressing against Leo’s side as he started up the DVD on the T.V. Connor looked offended, and the Latino teen had to hide his snickers behind his hand. “Leo Valdez, I have an important question for you.” He turned his head to find Travis had moved closer than he thought, the younger male looking intently into his eyes. He had no idea how the boy did it, but he had gracefully moved into a kneeling position before taking Leo’s hands into his own.

“Why yes?” Leo answered, fluttering his eyelashes and playing along. He could hear Connor gaging behind him, and he choked back a laugh.

“Would you do me the honor of being my Gabriella?” Leo gasped, covering his mouth with his free hand.

“More like _Gaybriella_ ,” Connor muttered.

“Oh, shut up you cynic. Why, I’d love to be your Gabriella, but only if you’ll be my Troy.” By total accident his voice broke while he was saying Troy, and the older teen watched as Travis’s lips twitched. The two boys held eye contact for another two seconds before Leo couldn’t hold it back anymore. He started chuckling, which turned into full-blown laughing when Travis joined him. Soon enough he was rolling on the floor, trying to crawl away from Travis who had started snorting like a wild boar. Even Connor was laughing now, all three boys crying as they laughed. “Oh, God, it hurts,” he whined, gasping for breath.

“God, you two are dorks.” Said Connor who had calmed down first and was starting to breathe normally again.

“We’re your favorite dorks,” Leo responded when he was finally able to sit up again. Every now and then he would chuckle randomly, but he was calmed down for the most part.

“Okay, okay,” Travis interrupted, trying to force himself to calm down and breath, “let’s just start the movie, shall we?”

* * *

Leo and Travis stood across from each other, both looking down at the ground. When the piano riff started they slowly moved their heads up to look each other in the eyes. Travis had a celery stick in his hand and Leo was cradling a hairbrush to his chest. The older teen looked at the younger one with adoration. Travis didn’t miss a beat, when the song started he started, placing a hand on his friend’s shoulder as he sang, returning the look. “We’re soarin’, flyin’, there’s not a star in heaven that we can’t reach.” The two boys looked up towards the ceiling fan as the taller of the two swept his arm across his body as if indicating to some imaginary sky. They looked back at Leo, who smiled timidly and brushed a curl behind his ear.

“If we’re tryin’,” Leo sang softly, looking down at Travis’s extended hand as he placed his own into it and laced their fingers together, “so we’re breaking free.” Travis dramatically whipped his head to the other side, no longer looking at Leo as he moved their hands down.

“You know the world can see us,” the two began to walk towards the kitchen together, “in a way that’s different than who we are.” ‘Gaybriella’ kept his eyes on his partner the whole time, love clear in his expression. He stepped away, slowly sliding his hand away.

“Creating space between us,” Travis looked back at him, extending his hand out until Leo had backed so far away that they couldn’t touch anymore. He placed a hand over his chest, looking away sadly as he sang, “’Til we’re separate hearts.”

The two sang in sync as they slowly circled around one another, “but your faith, it gives me strength, strength to believe.”

“We’re breaking free,” Travis belted as he slid in close to Leo, a goofy grin on his face. The two sang along to the song, maintaining their solo parts as they spun and twirled around one another. They would lean in and away from each other, shimming their shoulders as they sang at one another dramatically. All their movements were exaggerated, and when it came time for movie-Gabriella to take off her lab coat Gaybriella ripped off his shirt. Both boys were gyrating their hips, making small ‘come here’ motions with their fingers as they got closer together. They circled around each other again at the chorus, Leo twirling in little circles that made the blanket he had tied around his waist earlier in the movie flare out and whack Travis’s thigh until it came undone and fell off. Leo started hopping around, sweat making some of his curls stick to his forehead. So far the two had done this same kind of thing for every song that came on, and he was starting to get tired.

The last time the chorus played through Travis spun Leo, who twirled and twirled until everything blurred together and he felt light-headed. Still, he continued on with the number, a large grin painted across his face as he continued to sing the number. Connor whooped from his position on the couch, cheering them on. As the song slowed down, the two boys stepped closer together once more, Leo leaning into Travis’s chest as they softly sang the last line. As soon as the song died out the two boys flopped down on the ground, absolutely exhausted.

They rested across each other in an ‘x’ pattern, slowly steadying out their breathing as they both looked at one another, beaming. They stayed that way until the credits rolled and Travis finally spoke. “Yo, you’re trying out for the musical this year, right?”

“Oh, you know it. I was practically born to sing ‘Michael in the Bathroom’!” He sat up, pressing his knees into his chest and resting his cheek atop them as he rocked back and forth.

“Yeah, I think I’m gonna try for Jeremy. I still can’t believe we got Ms. Calliope to let us do ‘Be More Chill’ for our school musical this year. Like, I know it’s not totally inappropriate, but there’s still some things in there that the school board would flip their shit about and try to fire her over it.”

“Ah, nothing can be worse than last years ‘Into the Woods’.” Both of the boys winced as they remembered the earful the cast had gotten for the moaning cow and the porno that played over the implied sex scenes during the first Friday matinee they put on for some of the school. Leo had been cast as the wicked step-mother, and the whole production had been weird from the very beginning.

“True,” Connor added in between mouthfuls of carrots and grapes. He was scrolling through his phone, smiling at something on his screen.

“Hey, want to do a joint audition?” Travis rolled his eyes, choosing to ignore his brother. Leo grinned and nodded.

“Sure. Have any songs in mind?”

“Want to sing the ‘Bro Duet’? I know we’ve already practiced it enough jokingly this summer that we should be able to iron out the kinks before next Thursday. We could probably even do that goofy little dance number. Unless you want to be serious, then we could probably do ‘Lily’s Eyes’ from the Secret Garden.”

“Nah, I think the ‘Bro Duet’ should be fine. I’m a junior, and I’m not doing anything next year, so I kinda want to have fun with my last audition. I’ve been doing musicals since Freshman year anyways, so I think Ms. Calliope knows what I can and can’t do at this point. Besides, we both know she bases casting on who best represents the characters, and let's be real, Michael and Jeremy would totally be into the ‘Bro Song’, I mean c’mon. They sing ‘Two Player Game’, and yeah. It just kinda works.”

“I heard Jason was coming to auditions to watch you this year?” Leo felt his face flush and he covered up to his eyes with his arms.

“Oh, um, yeah. I told him he didn’t have to, but he feels bad because he hasn’t been to a single production I’ve been in and is probably going to miss this year’s due to sports. You know how the football schedule overlaps with the play and his soccer schedule gets seriously busy around when the musical gets put on.” He had told Jason it was okay, but it made him feel really light and jittery when he thought of Jason seeing him perform for the first time. Sure, the blond had helped him rehearse lines, but had never actually seen what he could do. While Jason excelled on any kind of field or court as well as in the classroom Leo dominated the stage.

“Rachel is auditioning for Christine. She might have some competition though because I heard Katie Gardner is also trying to get that role.”

“Wait, Katie Gardner? As in the _Katie Gardner_ you’ve liked since middle school?”

“Shut up, I told you I liked somebody else now! God, I knew I should never have told you about that.” Travis grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. His face was a light pink, and Leo chuckled.

“You won’t tell me who it is, which means you’re just trying to lie to me so I won’t tease you about Katie.” Travis was getting defensive now, opening and closing his mouth as he flushed a darker pink.

“No, I seriously don’t-“

“Hey, it’s okay, seriously man,” Leo said. He patted Travis lightly on the inner thigh before standing up. “If you say you don’t like Katie, I won’t press it anymore. Even if I think you totally still like Kate. If there is someone else though, tell me when you’re ready. I don’t want to force anything out of you, I shouldn’t know anything you aren’t ready for me to know.” His stomach clenched, and he quickly looked at Connor before dropping his gaze. He pulled up his basketball shorts before picking up his black tee and pulling it on over his head. While the weather had started to cool down, he was holding onto his summer clothes for as long as he could.

“Hey, Leonator,” Hermes, Travis and Connor’s dad, said, as he set his bag down after he entered the house, “you staying over for dinner tonight? Hey there boys, Martha, Georgie.”

“Yeah, let me just check with Nyssa to make sure it’s still okay with her,” he answered. He leaned over the back of the couch and grabbed his phone off of the counter. He had more notifications for snapchat than he expected, he had only replied to six people before heading over to the Stoll’s, and he had a few texts from Nyssa checking that he made it there safe. When he unlocked his cellphone and opened up the messaging app he saw there was two-hundred and fifteen new messages in the group chat he was in with his Piper, Jason, and the underclassman. After shooting off a text to Nyssa to let her know he would be eating dinner at his friend’s did he open up the group chat.

Connor had sent videos and pictures of him and Travis through the group chat, one of which had the two pressed close together as they watched the movie, Leo leaning into Travis’s side who had his head tilted as the two laughed about something. The caption on the picture read ‘travi has some serious Oedipus complex shit going on with daddy’. The rest were similar, either making fun of them for singing together, calling them dorks, or crudely drawn hearts flying out of Leo and Travis’s eyes. Some were weirdly captioned with ‘I’m proud of you son’, ‘daddy-son bonding time’, and ‘i rlly enjoy 3rd wheeling :)’. Their friends had left some silly comments, most of them just playfully teasing Travis and Leo, a few poking fun at Jason, asking if _dad_ was okay with this new development. Nobody in the group was taking it seriously, all knowing that Connor liked to mess with his brother and there was nothing going on between Leo and Travis.”

“Seriously Connor?” Travis groaned, and Leo looked over to see that he had finally checked his own phone. Connor was snickering in the corner of the couch and he barely avoided the pillow Travis tossed his way.

“Boys!” Mrs. Stoll spoke loudly, smiling and shaking her head at her sons’ antics as she entered the living room. “Hello sweetheart,” she hummed as she crossed the carpeted floor to kiss her husband. All three teenagers groaned exaggeratedly, making gagging sounds. “Oh, enough you three. Go on and set the table. Dinner should be done in about three minutes.” The boys cheered, heading into the kitchen. Travis got the plates, Connor got the silverware, and Leo got the cups and paper towels. By the time everything was set up, Mrs. Stoll was pulling the pork chops out of the oven and the dogs were barking as they circled around her feet. Everyone served themselves and sat down at the table, saying grace before shoving their faces full of food and talking about their day. Leo loved the Stolls, loved that he was treated as an honorary member of the family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as usual, un-beta'd so feel free to correct any errors you may notice while reading, it would be greatly appreciated as i am trash TM  
> okay, so i've hyped up this kiss a lot, but like, it's happening next chapter and i've really enjoyed writing it because it avoids all the normal cliches of kisses and yeah? idk, i can't wait for everybody to read it.  
> also, writing may slow down again in the next week as i have a test monday and two tests tuesday, so i'm starting to stress, like somebody pls come save me i'm dying this college thing is hard. idk, i feel like i'm gonna fail out, i'm so stressed. i know i'm worrying too much, and everything will end up fine, however it ends up, but still. somebody send help.  
> also, i gave the stolls a great home life because they deserve it, and i will fight you on this. i rlly will, the boys have been through so much already, the poor babes  
> also, leo is prec and i am not doing a good job at protecting him, so forgive me??? idk, i hope you enjoyed this chapter, can't wait for you to read the next one


	11. A Guy Travis Would Never Be Into

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> summary: the chapter with the kiss nobody was ready but everybody thought they were

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own any of the characters, all Percy Jackson and Heroes Of Olympus characters belong to Rick Riordan. I also have no ownership over the Bro Duet or the Be More Chill musical and characters.

Thursday came faster than expected, but Leo knew he and Travis were ready for auditions since they spent the last two weeks working through it and perfecting it. Piper had been trying to get Leo to give her a little demo of the performance, but he had managed to resist her charm. He had trouble staying focused through AP Statistics, mind drifting off to auditions that would be happening later that day. He knew they would be toeing the line, but he also knew Ms. Caliope enough to know that she wouldn’t be too phased by it as she had become jaded to his antics in the past three years. Jason, though, was where most of his anxiety came from. He knew he shouldn’t be making a big deal out of it, but he couldn’t help it. Just thinking about his crush watching him made him feel like he needed to vomit.

Still, he had somehow made it through class without getting in trouble and ended up at his locker where Jason was waiting for him. “Hey Jay,” he said in greeting. He dropped to his knees, wincing slightly from the impact, but moving past it quickly. He twisted in his lock combination quickly, trying to ignore his shaking fingers as he ripped the door open. “I feel like I should preface today with what you’re about to see is not a typical audition, it’s more fun and yeah. I’m not taking it as seriously as I would a performance and stuff, so like I can be better, but this is just like a goofy thing between Travis and me because this is the last audition I’m doing because I’m not trying out for the play this year and I’m not doing anything next year, so, yeah.”

“Jeeze Leo, you going to stop for air anytime soon?” Leo felt himself flush as he shoved his books into his locker, leaving everything but his Chemistry binder in it before shutting the door and locking it back up. “It’s okay, just relax. It’s obvious that you’re a little nervous about this audition, but you’re going to do great. I know it.” He slung an arm over the smaller boy’s shoulder after he stood up and slung his backpack on.

“I’m fine, I swear. It’s just, it’s you man.”

“What, me?” The hurt in Jason’s voice made Leo feel guilty, and he spoke quickly to try and remedy the situation.

“Yeah. Like, you’ve never seen me in my element, and I feel like I have to impress you, y’know. Show you that I’m good at more than just beating gym leaders and completing the Pokedex.”

“Give yourself more credit, you’re good at math too. Come on, I mean you help me with my calculus homework, I wouldn’t be getting through that class without your help.”

“Oh please, you’re just saying that to make me feel all special and happy. Which, by the way, is totally working.” Jason flashed him one of his gigawatt smiles, and Leo felt his insides melt as they approached the theatre room.

“Good. So, what am I supposed to do?” They entered the room, and Leo tossed his backpack on the ground near the wall, smile widening as he approached the woman standing at the front of the room. She was a larger woman, but she wore her weight well, Leo liked to describe her as petite and plump. She was probably one of the few people he actually knew that was smaller than him. Her thick curls were worn in a puff at the top of her head. She matched Leo’s smile when she saw him, opening her arms wide and hugging him.

“Hey Ms. Calliope. Ms. Calliope, Jason, Jason, Ms. Calliope.” Leo introduced them as he stepped out of the hug, motioning between the two of them as he said their names. “Jason here is the friend I told you about, the one who you said could watch auditions.”

“Oh yes, you can sit here sweetheart,” the older woman said. She had a very rich voice, something that had scared Leo the first time he had met her. He had gone through puberty yet she still had a deeper voice than him, but it somehow fit with her image and personality. It was very relaxing to listen to, and she had a slight accent on her vowels. “Leo has told me so much about you these past years. Of course, I’ve heard about the school’s star athlete, but it is nice to finally put a face to a name.” She turned to Leo, a kind of knowing in her smile that made him shift uncomfortably under her gaze. “A very handsome face indeed. It’s a shame your sports schedule gets in the way of the arts, you’d be a perfect addition to any casting list I put out. If you ever want to give theatre a try, don’t hesitate to tell me.”

“Ah, thanks ma’am, but I’m not sure that I’d be able to dedicate the time necessary for a play.” Jason was flustered which made Leo flustered because he was hot even when he was a bit embarrassed and it just wasn’t _fair_.

“What a thoughtful young man.” The woman cooed, causing Leo to roll his eyes and mouth kiss ass to his friend. “Mr. Valdez, is there something you’d like to share with me?”

“Jeez woman, do you have eyes on the back of your head or something?”

“I just might. Now, we’re just waiting for Mr. Stoll to arrive and then you two can start your auditions.”

“Wait, where is everyone else?” Jason asked, a cute confused pout on his lips. Leo felt his stomach do flips, and he tried to ignore the way the blond bit his lower lip.

“Ah, well we sign up for auditions, like we have to choose a time slot and date, and only Trav and I signed up for today, most kids tried out yesterday but we like to leave a lasting impression on the lovely director so we’ve always signed up for one of the latest time slots.” The older woman rolled her eyes and playfully nudged the Latino teen.

“Compliments, while greatly appreciated, will not get you that role Mr. Valdez.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he grumbled throwing up his fingers to make air quotes, “only talent determines those who get roles in _your_ shows.” He grinned smugly at Jason as he added, “Which I totally have. Name a kid better suited to play Michael, c’mon.”

“Don’t get too cocky, with that kind of an attitude someone may knock you off your pedestal.” She laughed, shaking her head as she sat herself down in the chair next to Jason. “While I hate to admit it in front of him, he does put on quite a spectacular performance.” She whispered conspiratorially when Leo had turned away and moved out of earshot. She turned back in time to catch the teen flinging himself onto the stage. “The _stairs_ Mr. Valdez, how many times-“

“Sorry, I forgot!” Leo shouted back, a sheepish grin on his face.

“So you say.” The drama teacher replied, leaning back into her chair. “Honestly that boy,” she shook her head, and smiled kindly at Jason, “I still already know I’ll miss him next year. Shame he chose to pursue baseball, I’ve never seen a star so bright in all my years of teaching. Don’t let him know it though, it’ll go straight to his head.” Jason smiled back awkwardly, his body tense as he tried to figure out how to act around this stranger. Sure, he knew Leo had other friends and other things in his life that didn’t involve Jason, but this was just so weird. Everything felt foreign to him, and he was unsure how to proceed, feeling guilty that he hadn’t made more of an effort to support Leo in one of his shows before.

“Hey Ms. C!” Travis entered the room the same way Jason and Leo had, throwing his backpack on the ground beside Leo's as he jogged up to the stage. “Sorry I’m late, lab ran a little over and Mr. S can be such a _pain_ sometimes.”

“I shouldn’t have to remind you that the theatre waits for no one Mr. Stoll,” said the older woman. Despite her words, she smiled warmly at the young boy.

“Yes ma’am!” Travis replied with a quick salute. “No more tardiness from me, I swear.” He looked over at Jason and smiled nervously, rubbing his hands together.

“I would hope so. We’re going to start with a quick read through of a scene, you boys know the drill. You’ll read the parts of a few character, and when I’m satisfied you will perform your prepared song. State your names and the roles you are auditioning for.”

“Leo Valdez auditioning for Michael.”

“Travis Stoll auditioning for the role of Jeremy.”

* * *

“All right boys, good job. You can hand your sheet music to Mrs. Nightshade and she will accompany you whenever you are ready to begin.”

“Ah, okay.” Leo shuffled awkwardly across the stage, pulling out some crumpled paper he had shoved into his back pocket. Jason wasn’t close enough to be sure, but he could swear the woman behind the piano rolled her eyes and said ‘ _boys_ ' as the teen made his way back towards Travis. The two looked at each other and nodded before looking towards the pianist and nodding once more at her. The music started, and Jason adjusted himself so he could stretch out his stiff muscles and comfortably watch the performance.

“Hey dude!” Leo said as he gave Travis a lopsided grin.

“Yeah brah,” the eldest Stoll brother answered nonchalantly, looking out at Jason.

“So, uh, I, I’ve got something I need to take off my chest,” Leo admitted, bouncing around slightly on the stage as he motioned briefly to his torso. Travis turned towards him and tilted his head.

“You do?” His voice cracked a little, and Jason resisted the urge to laugh. Either it was meant to be that way or both were damn good actors because Leo continued on with his part without hesitation.

“Remember that time we went surfing and I almost drowned,” Travis chuckled and rolled his head before looking back at Leo, “and you dragged me to the beach and performed CPR?” The teen put his hands together and made the CPR motions, bouncing every time his hands went down. He stopped and placed his hand on the taller boy’s arm, a small smile on his face as he went on.  “Well, no homo, but that's the day I fell in love with you. No homo,” Leo bent at the knees, waving his hand in front of Travis as he leaned slightly away, the gesture meant to be one of reassurance, “that's that day I knew you were mine.” The young Latino gently patted his friend on his chest twice before running his hand downwards. He bit his lip before he looked back into the other boy’s eyes and sang, “Looking into your eyes made me realize that, no homo, but your lips touching mine changed my life.” He pointed at his lips, as he enunciated the last three words, an awkward smile pulling at the corners.

“Bro!” Travis interrupted, and Leo wiped his nose and crossed his arms over his chest. “Are you saying what I think you're saying?” He asked, not yet singing but keeping up with the beat.

“Uh, yeah, I think I am?” He looked around before meeting the other’s eyes, pulling a face.

“Uh,” Travis said out before he started singing. “Yeah dude, I totally get what you're saying.” Jason was surprised. He knew the two of his friends had done musicals together before, but both of their voices were better than he had thought. He wasn’t sure what he had been expecting, but it hadn’t been this.

“Ya do?” Leo sang back.

“And I've been wanting to tell you for so long-”

“You feel the same way too?” Leo interrupted. He had a goofy grin on his face, and Travis stepped in closer, slinging an arm over his friend’s shoulder.

“Remember that time at Disney World, when I ate that giant turkey leg?”

“Yes!” He shouted, nodding his head enthusiastically.

“And I started choking,” Leo made the signal, holding a hand to his throat as he rocked on his heels, “until you came along.”

Leo began to sing, “Yeah, I came,” as Travis started the next verse.

“No homo, but that's the day I fell in love with you.”

They sang the next few verses until they belted, harmonizing at the same time, “Right!” They had both stood up straighter as their voices raised, leaning closer together with wide grins.

“Alone, your body pressed into mine somehow didn't cross the line.” The Sophomore sang, a pleasant smile on his face as he brushed a curl back off his partner’s forehead.

“Why would it have?”

“No homo, but that day changed my life.”

They sang together again. “The outside world might see us as gay, but bro, we swear we're not. We're just two bros chilling out, and I think you're really-“

“Hot!”

“Awesome!” Travis whipped his head from side to side until he looked at Leo and asked, no longer singing, “Wait, what?” The Junior cleared his throat, shrugging innocently as he tugged on the collar of his shirt. Travis shrugged too and started singing again, this time in an almost whisper. “Snuggling with you under the covers, no homo.”

“Spooning with you just like we're lovers, no-ho-mo.” He replied in his honey-like voice, just as softly as his friend.

“Our lips touched for a minute or two but,” he cupped his hand over the side of his mouth facing away from the ‘audience’ as he leaned in and whispered, “no homo.”

Leo mimicked the boy’s actions before he too whispered, “It's okay with me if it's okay with you.”

“It totally is!” He shouted. They both began to jump in place together, headbanging slightly as they flopped through the air.

“No homo! But let's find an apartment together. No homo! Let's save money by sharing a bed.” The two shared a look as they hip thrusted the air. “Looking into your eyes made me realize that I love you more than you could ever know, my bro.” Their voices really worked together, both suddenly stopping all movements and looking into one another’s eyes as they exclaimed, “No homo!”

The piano cut out, and the performance was over. Both boys were panting, chests falling up and down in sync as they smiled widely at one another. Jason started clapping loudly, startling both of them and causing them to jump apart. Leo felt his face heating up, and he ducked his head down and rubbed the back of his neck before he and Travis took the side stairs off the stage. Travis beamed, giving Jason two thumbs up as he rushed off the stage.

“I told you you’d do great!” The blond grinned, draping his arm over the smaller boy’s shoulder and pulling him into his side.

“I forgot, you’re all knowing,” he teased, shoving his friend away.

“You guys are so gross,” Travis grumbled as he pulled on his backpack.

“You love us and you know it.” Leo rolled his eyes, moving to hang off the brunette. Travis shrugged him off, unhappy for some reason. “Aw, don’t do daddy dirty like that.”

“Ew, gross Leo. Seriously, stop calling yourself that,” Jason groaned, picking up Leo’s backpack. The trio made their way out to the parking lot, the youngest still in a sour mood. While the two juniors walked together he lagged behind, not involving himself in the conversation, tapping away furiously at his phone. “Hey, I’m going to see what’s bugging him, can you start the car?” 

"I don't know, _can_ I?" He chuckled. When Leo saw his friend's expression he straightened up and nodded. "Uh, yeah man. I'll start the car." Leo took the keys from Jason, running his finger over the silver ring as he approached the car. He looked over his shoulder and saw the other two teens talking, and he knew to mind his own buisness. He started the car easily, and after he crawled over the console to the passenger side he started switching through the blond’s radio stations until he found one he liked, turning up the volume of Gnash’s “I Hate U, I Love U” loud enough that the Nissan shook.

It had been about fifteen minutes since the Travis and Jason had started talking, and Leo was starting to get impatient. He looked out the rearview mirror, watching the two other boy’s talk as he sang along to the song. Jason had put his hand on the other boy’s shoulder, and it looked like they were talking about something serious. Leo wished he hadn’t seen what Travis did next, that he had looked away a few seconds earlier to honk the horn like he had planned. The brunette kissed the blond and he could feel time stop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as usual, un-beta'd so feel free to correct me/make me aware of any mistakes i may have made.  
> okay, so i 10/10 recommend listening to the "Bro Duet" as you read Leo and Travis's audition for the musical, like it is pretty funny and can give you some insight. i feel kinda weird, i wasn't sure how to write all the actions and i'm p sure i wrote sang/sing/sung like 52 times so.....  
> but yeah. finished my tests for this week, arranged my next semester schedule (even tho i don't sign up for classes til the 30th and next semester doesn't start until january) i made an a in bio, and all of my classes but like two are a's for the midterms, so i'm pretty happy about that.  
> i am going to write some more this week/weekend, but i'm having a lack of inspiration for my wild west au series and was unsatisfied with everything i had written so i deleted and started over but yeah.... i kinda want to write some things with original characters for this fandom and write some stuff for another fandom i'm part of, but i really want to finish this up. i think there is anywhere from 7-13 chapters left at this point, but yeah  
> as i said, nobody was expecting that kiss, and nobody knew Travis's crush. probably. but i did hint at it like maybe twice but not too much bc plot twist? lol  
> anyways, enjoy, feel free to leave a comment and i'll respond when i can!


	12. The Radio Star's Secrets Killed the Radio Star

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> summary: the author uses a chapter to describe a house and remind the reader that there may be a sliver of a plot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own any of the characters, all Percy Jackson and Heroes Of Olympus characters belong to Rick Riordan.

It is the time of the year when the weather starts cooling down as summer really begins to fade into fall, football reaching close to its peak of the season. Leo knows that he shouldn’t be this upset over having to ride the bus, but things with Jason had been awkward over the past week. He was avoiding him, not making eye contact, opening his texts and not responding. He had let the six-hundred-and-seventy-five-day streak he and Leo had on snapchat die out. Even Piper had noticed something was up, but Jason avoided the subject and Leo knew it was not his place to share when his friend had no idea the image of his two friends kissing was burned into the back of his eyelids and made sleep almost impossible.

He picked at the worn-down plastic on the bus’s seats, not once looking up the entire ride. Despite the cooling temperatures, his shirt stuck to his back with sweat and his curls matted against his forehead from the heat trapped on the inside of the bus. He had been spoiled by the air conditioning in Jason’s car, taken for granted the fact that his friend could drive and would take him to and from school on most days.

The bus dropped off at a local Timewise about two and a half miles away from his home and he’d walk the rest of the way while sipping on a Slurpee he bought. He always felt like he should be ashamed as he made his way through the more affluent neighborhoods on the way to his own, but he couldn’t bring himself to be. Houses went from cute little brick one stories to two stories that looked like their structure would give out if you breathed on them hard enough. His family lived in the middle of a cul-de-sac, his house elevated a little higher than the rest. The concrete driveway that leads up to the one car garage was cracked and had weeds growing out of it, and the grass was up to his ankles, but the outside still looked better in comparison to the houses around it. The plaster walls were painted a faded and chipped light blue that was more yellow around the shingles, and ledges near the windows were missing chunks, but all in all the house looked like it had a lot of personality, even with the chain-link fence.

The inside was a lot better kept than the outside. The living room was connected to the entryway, so the first thing visitors usually saw was the strange assortment of mismatched furniture. The couch sat three people and was a light blue while the love chair was a puke green and his dad’s recliner was a baby pink. A small thirty-two-inch screen T.V. sat on a tiny glass table pressed back against the wall. Laundry was draped over the back of the loveseat, a basket of freshly washed clothes at the foot of it, probably from Nyssa who had put a load in before work. The house itself was small, only four bedrooms and two baths total. Only the master suite, if you could really call it that, was located on the first floor and was hidden behind the kitchen. It was where his dad stayed when he did come home, and none of the kids were allowed in it.

The kitchen had a sink full of dishes that had been washed and were drying, waiting to be put away before dinner that night. The table was covered in Jake’s school work, his computer opened halfway on the corner and his shoes kicked off by the leg of the table. Little orange placemats covered the table wherever a chair was located, and the dark wood of the table was chipped or missing in various places. Outside of the kitchen was the stairwell, the walls decorated with childhood artwork and awkward school and sports photos. The largest one at the very center was one of Leo in seventh grade when he had first gotten his braces and glasses, and he had a large zit right above his left eyebrow.  Nyssa’s senior photo was at the very top, her long hair straightened and over her shoulder as she gave the camera a beautiful smile that reached her eyes. Leo hadn’t seen her smile like that in a while.

The only right at the top of the stairs lead straight into the bathroom, decorated with wallpaper and black and white tiled flooring. The door opened inwards and the room was narrow enough that it hit the countertop if opened all the way. The white ceramic toilet was missing the lid on the back and was close enough that there was no arm room between the counter and bathtub-shower combo if anybody sat down on it. They had to keep the towels on door hangers in their bedrooms as Leo had ripped the towel rack in the bathroom off the wall in third grade when he decided he could do chin-ups on it, and the toilet paper rack was slightly tilted off the side of the countertop. The shower was separated from the rest of the room with a plastic shower curtain that had small ducks on the bottom.

On the left of the stairs was a narrow hallway that leads to the bedrooms. Both Jake and Nyssa’s bedrooms had small pictures of Leo cut out and taped underneath the door handles. Leo had done so after taking a really good photo in kindergarten that he was proud of, he had begged his mom to help hang them up at the time. Jake’s room was the first door on the left, his football picture from junior year hanging off to the left side. His door was shut, but the bottom corner near the hinges was gone from where he had kicked it in a fit of rage as an adolescent.  Nyssa’s room was the next door, on the right, and Christmas lights, the multicolored kind that people decorated their houses with during the seasons, were hung around the frame of her door. They would flash colors when she was in her room, but they were currently off and her door was shut as well. At the very end of the hallway was the smallest room, Leo’s.

His ceiling slanted down as it neared his window, and he could no longer stand in that space without hitting his head. A small, light wood dresser sat there, an alarm clock and some video games were thrown hazardously on the top. On the side of that was his bed, a small twin size in a metal frame he had for as long as he could remember. His Lightning McQueen covers smiled up at him as he tossed his backpack on his bed and kicked his shoes off into the wall near his closet. He had a small bed in front of the bed on one of the two sides not pressed against a wall, it was where he kept all his gaming equipment and movies. Dirty clothes were strewn across his floor, a pair of boxers hanging off of his ceiling fan where he had put them to dry faster. In the corner of his room was a beanbag, and by that beanbag was a half-eaten pizza on a paper plate, some chips, and a soda from three days ago laying around it on the dark green carpet. He had tacked pictures of him and his friends and family along his walls. The corner with the beanbag and food had the highest concentration of pictures, most were of him, Jason, and Piper. There were some from elementary, where he had lost his two front teeth and Jason had tried to eat that stapler and gotten that really cool scar. One was of when he took Piper to their sixth-grade dance because the blond had gotten food poisoning and couldn’t go with her anymore. Near his dresser was more family oriented pictures, pictures with his mom and sister at his baseball games, Jake standing beside him as he held up a blue ribbon next to his science fair project, his dad sitting in the recliner with him propped up against his knee.

Leo had already settled onto the beanbag after peeling his clothes off when his phone rang. He answered it without looking at the caller I.D.

“Yo,” he said. He chewed at the hangnail on his thumb, balancing the phone between his shoulder and his ear.

“Leo.”

“Oh, hey Will, what’s up?”

“Don’t ‘oh, hey Will’ me. We need to talk.” The younger boy sounded stiff over the phone, an uncomfortable edge to his voice that let Leo knew something was wrong.

“You don’t sound happy, what’s wrong?” Leo sat up, pushing his knees into his chest. He could feel his body start to tremble slightly, he was never able to handle someone being upset with him, the thought alone made his stomach twist into knots.

“We need to talk about Connor Stoll. I’m starting to worry about your secret life mixing with your personal one.”

“Huh?” He asked, confused. He tried to remember something he could have said or done that would have upset or bothered the youngest Stoll brother enough that Will would call him about it. In the past few weeks Connor had gotten closer to the couple the group had dubbed Solangelo, so it made sense that Will would call him if he had done something wrong to the boy.

“You know what I’m talking about, don’t play dumb.”

“No, I’m really not sure what I did. Maybe if you tell me I could apologize or explain the situation, this must just be a misunderstanding. I can’t remember doing anything to him, at least not purposely.”

“I’m talking about the show Leo. You know, the one you do with my _dad_ on Fridays.” Leo began to scratch angrily at his thigh. “About three weeks ago Connor came to Nico and I and told us that he had been feeling guilty about a few things, and he needed to get them off his chest, so we agreed to meet at the McDonalds after school. Well, he ended up confessing that he had these feelings for the both of us, and we were kind of taken by surprise, but the three of us talked it out. We all talked for three hours, and he told us we could take our time to think about what he was saying. We weren’t sure what to do at first, so we had these last two weeks as a kind of period to figure things out.

“Anyways, we decided we’d try a poly relationship. We both like Connor, like a lot, and we realized that as we started to figure out how the three of us worked. And like, I felt no kind of jealousy when I saw him and Nico kiss, it just felt, _right_. You want to hear something funny though?” Leo felt his hands start to sweat and it was suddenly hard to swallow his spit. “We were driving home the yesterday, and my dad was replaying a segment on the station and giving an update on one of the callers who had been having trouble with his feelings for ‘sunshine’ and ‘sad bro’. Funny, right? It sounds a lot like Nico and I, doesn’t it?” Leo was having trouble breathing.

“So I ask my new boyfriend about it when I’m taking him on a date, and he gets all cute and flustered and admits that he called the _Love Mechanic_ for advice.”

“Will-“

“No, fuck you, Leo. He told me you approached him at school after, and he couldn’t figure out how, but you knew about his situation and basically gave him the same advice, told him to go for it. Do you have any idea how bad that could have gone? What if he had figured out it was you man?”

“Will, I didn’t mean to.”

“Leo, I’m not trying to attack you. I know you meant no harm when you started this whole Love Mechanic thing. It’s just, if he finds out then he might feel betrayed by the three of us. I never want that. And now I feel like I have to lie to someone I really care about for you. It’s just, this whole thing feels _wrong_ , but I’m doing it for you. And it is almost like you’re trying to let people know who you are. It was fine when nobody we knew was directly involved, when it wasn’t a friend’s feelings on the line. You could be distant.” Leo could see Will pushing his long hair back out of his face as he sighed, and he felt his whole body heat up.

“I’m so, so sorry. Your dad and I had an agreement, I was never supposed to talk to anyone I know. It just, he started and I couldn’t stop him, and I just. I wasn’t sure how to answer him. I wasn’t sure what to do. I tried to give him my normal advice, you know, but it didn’t feel authentic, and Will I am so, so very sorry. I had to give him something better than that, he’s my friend.”

“Just, you make it so obvious sometimes.”

“I can’t help it, you know-“

“Yeah, I know you can’t, I know you try. But Leo, my dad did it once. He’ll probably do it again. Listen, just, you can’t be doing these follow up things because they’re people you know. And if you’re gonna do them anyways, maybe it’s time you came clean to our friend group about who you are and what you spend your Fridays doing. It could save any possible situations like this from happening in the future. I know Travis was thinking about calling in for advice on Jason. Do you really think you could give him unbiased tips? That you could avoid overly involving yourself in that situation?” The idea of having to give Travis love advice on his crush made his chest seize up, and he felt light-headed just imagining it. He’d probably try to prevent the two from getting together or do something really stupid. “I’ve got to go, but think about it. I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”

“Bye,” Leo rasped, but Will had already hung up. Leo looked down at his leg, realizing that blood was running down his calf from where he had scratched the skin raw. It took him thirty minutes to remember how to breathe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> un-beta'd, feel free to let me know about any mistakes you spot  
> so, somebody asked me if will would know about the leo-connor love mechanic talk? and yeah, he does. luckily he's more worried about his friend's secret than the fact that his friend interfered with his love life.  
> but yeah. seriously this is just a filler chapter before shit starts to hit the fan and it sets up some things because i'm p sure this is gonna end kinda soon and i need to bring some things i've written together? idk, but yeah. expect more on the travis-jason kiss in future chapters, and know valgrace is approaching quickly. unless its not and this whole time i've been writing a travis-jason story in disguise (i haven't)  
> but yeah. i'll probably have more up either later tonight or this weekend, but don't hold me to it. also, more piper in future chapters bc i love her and i love writing her and leo's dynamic  
> you can prepare for the musical too i guess???


	13. Listen to Your Own Advice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> summary: Jason is a Disney princess and Leo hates how he feels

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own any of the characters, all Percy Jackson and Heroes Of Olympus characters belong to Rick Riordan.

“Moana, ‘How Far I’ll Go!’” Jason replies calmly, a smug smile on his face.

“What the hell, how’d you know that? There’s no way, he’s cheating. He’s totally cheating, that was like one second of the intro. C’mon.” Piper complained, pushing against Leo’s shoulder as she spoke. He glanced up from his phone where he had been going scrolling through his Instagram feed, not really paying attention. He gave his friend a half-hearted shrug before looking back down at his phone. She let out a high-pitched scream before shoving him over with full force.

“Ow, dammit woman that hurt.” He yelped, rubbing his shoulder as he sat back up and scooted away from her.

“Seriously though, how did you know that? It really was only like half a second,” Will asked. He was sitting on the bed, arm slung over Nico’s shoulder as he confirmed Jason’s answer.

“The windchimes,” came the blond’s simple response. “Come on Leo, give me some actual competition,” he teased, bumping his knee into Leo’s upper thigh.

“And let you beat me at yet another thing? No thanks man.”

“Please? You’re the only real competition here.”

“Fuck you, I’m right here,” Piper shouts. She’s leaning over Leo, hands pressed against his leg as she moves towards Jason. “You’re only winning because you’re cheating. I don’t know how, but there is no way you could be beating me with anything that has to do with Disney.”

“Oh, trust me, it’s possible Pipes. When we watch Hercules he straight up quotes the movie as it plays.” Leo says as he pockets his phone. “Listen, if I join we have to start over with the scoring. I’m not going to be able to catch up to Jase’s thirty-point lead. And no live action movies, only the classic cartoons!”

“You’re such an elitist. Disney is Disney, no matter how animated.”

“Shut up Piper.”

They were hanging out at Nico’s place, waiting for the rest of the group to join before they headed to Denny’s for their Saturday family brunch. The di Angelo household was unlike anything anyone else in the group had. Nico’s dad had it built specifically for his step-mother, away from any kind of neighbors. The whole back wall facing the open garden on the first floor was glass, a lot of light filtered in over the various plants that rest on ledges in cute little pots or hung from the ceiling. The inside was very modern, dark wood and stainless-steel appliances, the countertops a white marble. Persephone had decorated the interior of the house with a lot of copper pieces, like the picture frames that contained childhood pictures of Nico and his half-sister Hazel. Pictures with Bianca, Nico’s full sister, were not as plentifully, mostly because her loss of her battle with leukemia at a young age still upset Nico’s dad, Hades.

The house was an open concept, most of the rooms blending together without separating walls, and only the bedrooms on the second floor and Hades’s basement space were really separated into individual spaces. Hade’s had turned the basement into a master suite, and while nobody knew what it looked like Leo liked to joke the reason he was down there was that he was into some kinky stuff. Nico never appreciated his humor.

They were sitting in Nico’s room, sprawled across the floor for the most part as Nico kept his eyes on the driveway as he awaited their friends’ arrival. Nico’s room really only contained the necessaries, any personal touches few and in-between. His queen bed had a soft mattress that was covered with black sheets and a gray comforter, no extra pillows for decoration, no stuffed animals. There was really only three other pieces of furniture in the room, a desk and chair as well as a bookshelf. The desk was pressed into the corner, a nice wood one with his Mac charging in the center. He had his backpack in the chair, and a few papers were pulled out and scattered over the desk, but the area was otherwise neat. The bookshelf was filled with books the teen had collected, a lot of poems along with books on Roman and Greek myths filled most of the shelves. There were three wooden boxes on different shelves, no doubt filled with mythomagic cards he had collected as a child.

Piper had gotten bored waiting for the Stoll’s. Rachel was out of town with her dad for the weekend, so the two boys were the only ones who had yet to arrive. Piper, bored and unable to remain still for too long, had challenged Jason to a Disney song challenge. Will was playing songs off of YouTube, making sure the game was played fair as he kept points. Nico had opted out by sheer luck, and Jake had dropped Leo off a little late so he had missed the beginning of the game.

“Okay, let me set this up real quick and then we can start.” Will messed around on his phone for a few seconds before he nodded. “Ready?”

“Yep,” the three juniors responded in unison.

He had barely even moved his finger away from pressing play when Leo slapped Jason’s side and blurted, “’Circle of Life’ Lion King!”

“Oh, what the hell!” Piper whined as she flopped onto her back, covering her eyes with her arm and pouting.

A small, upbeat melody began playing, and Jason and Leo yelled, “’Under the Sea!’” Jason only got the point because he said The Little Mermaid while Leo said Ariel. The game continued on like this for another fifteen minutes. Piper had a total of four points, meaning she had gotten two songs and titles, while Leo was sitting at twenty-four and Jason had twenty-eight. Leo had ended up in Jason’s lap, shoving his shoulder into his friend’s jaw whenever he knew the song, and Piper was draped over the blond’s back.

“Seriously, how the hell are the only two songs I’ve gotten were from Pocahontas?” She complained. Leo looked over his shoulder at her, eyebrow raised. “Don’t you dare, I will end you Valdez.”

“What? I was just going to say I hated Pocahontas as a kid. The raccoon freaked me out!” He said.

“Jeez, sometimes it’s hard to believe you three are two years older than me. Come on, they’re here.” Nico said as he stood up, sliding on his shoes after he got out of his bed. Will followed after him, the trio tumbling down the hallway after them. Jason would be taking the Stoll brothers as well as Nico and Will. Piper would be taking Leo because he needed to be dropped off at his home afterward so he could go hiking with Nyssa.

Piper drove a shiny silver BMW, one her dad had bought her for her birthday after she got her license. Leo wanted to be jealous, but he was in it just as often as her, and it was a sweet ride. So were the perks of being an actor’s daughter he guessed. He felt his stomach twist uncomfortably as he watched Jason and Travis smile and laugh about a joke he couldn’t hear, throwing himself in his friend’s car and slamming the door shut behind him so he wouldn’t have to watch it anymore. When Piper slid into the driver’s side beside him she gave him a look but didn’t say anything.

* * *

Brunch was the worst. It was normally the one part of his week Leo had to look forward to, but he felt uncomfortable the entire time, wishing he could be in his bed and sleeping instead of with his friends. Piper kept looking at him, and though she didn’t voice it, he knew she could tell something was off and wanted to ask him about it. He ignored her as he sipped on his flat Coke. Jason was not in his normal spot beside him, instead was sitting next to Travis in a chair he had pulled up as the two shared a conversation Leo couldn’t follow. When Connor brought up that the blond had left some of his stuff at their house on Friday Leo felt his throat tighten. It had been two weeks since the auditions, about a week since Will had called, and the dynamics between his friends was different, had changed without him noticing. Jason spent a lot more time with Travis, and while neither had said or done anything in front of him, it was clear to see they were closer than before. Connor hadn’t teased his brother yet, but Leo wasn’t sure if that was because nothing was happening or because the younger Stoll was too busy with his own relationship to pay attention to his brother’s.

While the Will, Nico, and Connor had not announced that they were in a poly relationship it was obvious to tell. Connor with Will tucked under his arm, Nico would hold his hand when he thought nobody was watching. They weren’t overly PDA but at this point everyone in school either knew or was starting to clue in. Nobody in the group made a comment on it, accepting Solangelo expanding by one without a second thought and moving on. The three were on the other side of the booth, Nico shaking his head at his boyfriends as they laughed at some of Connor’s story of the prank he had pulled. They are squeezed in close together, and as put off as Nico is acting, Leo can see the smile in his eyes. It was kind of gross.

“Wait, seriously?” Jason speaks loudly, looking away from Travis and towards Leo so fast the Latino worries he may give himself whiplash. “Why didn’t you tell me?” He looks at him like he’s just kicked a hurt puppy, and even though he doesn’t know what secret Jason’s talking about, he feels guilty.

“Tell you what?”

“That you got the role you wanted in that musical? That’s great man!”

“Oh, um, yeah.” The casting list had been put out on Wednesday after callbacks on Monday, and Leo had been listed as the actor playing Michael. Travis got the role of Jeremy and as happy as he wanted to be for his friend, Leo wished he didn’t have to spend an hour after school every day with someone he was harboring secret jealous feelings for. “You’ve just been kinda busy with football so we haven’t really talked in a while.” He also hadn’t wanted Jason to know because he didn’t think he could handle him going to the theatre room after school to pick him up only to make heart eyes at Travis as Leo grabbed his stuff. He looks down at his half eaten pancake and his hands pick at his jeans.

Piper saves him, looking up from her phone. “Hey guys, I’m sorry, Lace needs me to come get her. You ready Leo?”

Leo nods his head furiously, thankful for the excuse to get out of the building and away from these people. “Are you sure? I can take you home,” Jason says.

“Nah, it’s no biggie, I gotta go out with Nys later today anyways. I’ll catch up with you later,” he replies quickly. The group says their goodbyes, and Piper says nothing as they pay their bills and get into the car. “So where is Lace at?” He asks, already feeling better.

“Ah, I actually lied. Lace is at home, probably making waffles with Drew.” She says as she reverses at of her parking spot and heads onto the street.

“But-“

“Somethings wrong. Something has been wrong for like two weeks now, and I just. Are you okay? What’s going on, you know you can talk to me about anything.”

“Travis kissed Jason.” He whispers, and it’s like saying those words out loud breaks a part of him. “And Jason still hasn’t talked to me about this person he likes, and he’s been ignoring me and hanging out with Travis, and he lost our streak on snapchat and can’t even restart one with me.”

“Wait, what?” Piper asks, slamming on her breaks at a stoplight. She turns to look at Leo, a scandalized expression decorating her face. “Jason dropped your snapchat streak?” It was silent for a few seconds before she screamed again. “Wait, what? Travis and Jason? But, Jason hasn’t said anything to me? Those two have been hanging out a bit more though, I guess I could see it. Except for no, no I can not.” She started driving again once the light changed color, mumbling to herself for a few minutes before she spoke to him. “Have you talked to either of them about this?”

“No, what the hell am I supposed to say? Hey, I saw that my crush got kissed by someone who was supposed to be my friend? Someone I told that I liked him?”

“You know, this may all just be a little misunderstanding. The Love Mechanic says that if you don’t communicate nobody will ever know the truth.” He sighs, and relaxes into his seat. It’s a shame he can’t take his own advice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you know the drill. un-beta'd, hit me up if you see anything i messed up on bc i don't know how to write grammatically or spell correctly  
> so the story goes on, and some things are covered, but a lot is left unsaid. next chapter is jake/leo centric, and yeah. then some more valgrace interaction, and finally a love mechanic piece everyone has been waiting for. idk, i kinda just want to delete this bc i feel like it isn't going in the direction i want and i don't know how to get it back on track  
> anyways, have a safe weekend and have fun everybody! i'm writing a talex fanfic soon, which i'm super excited about and yes psued names make me so happy and yeah. more valgrace stuff coming soon for my other series, and i may take a break before i start working out my jedi valgrace fic. i found a major plot hole and had to rewrite the entire thing. yeah, sad day


	14. Numb

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> summary: when leo needs a home, he finds one in piper and jason

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own any of the characters, all Percy Jackson and Heroes Of Olympus characters belong to Rick Riordan.

Somebody was shaking Leo awake, whispering his name repeatedly. He tries to nudge the hand off, rolling over and shoving his face deeper into his comforter. He hears hushed talking before his bed shifts, and a small hand rests on his shoulder.

“Leo, you need to wake up. This is serious.” The voice was familiar, and if he wasn’t regaining his consciousness so slowly, he may have recognized from where. It was warm and made images of his mom pop into his mind. He blinks his eyes open, remembering his mom is gone.

Aphrodite, Piper’s mom. He had no idea why he’d be in his bedroom at, what time was it? He looked over at his alarm clock, 02:38 was illuminated in green light. He sat up slowly, rubbing at his eyes to try and wipe the haziness from sleep away. His yawned, rolling his shoulders and pushing himself back against the wall so he could stay up.

It made sense that if something went wrong his dad would call her, he always went to her when things weren’t alright. After his mom died she was over at his house a lot. Nyssa had done her best to keep him out of the house whenever she was around, and back then he couldn’t understand why. Now he had an idea, and he guessed everybody coped with loss differently.

“Why’re you here?” He mumbles, pushing the curls off his forehead and looking at her with narrowed eyes.

“Leo, we need to get to the hospital, your sister and dad can explain there.” His stomach drops, and he’s shoving her off of the edge of his bed to stand up. She doesn’t take offense to it, instead she stands up beside him and places her hand on his shoulder.

“Hospital? What’s going on?”

“It’s not my place. Piper’s driving there now, so she’ll meet us so she can be there for you. I’m in the driveway, throw on some clothes real quick and we can head out.” She makes her doorway before she looks back over her shoulder. “Leo, I’m so, so sorry.” And then she’s gone.

Leo can feel his chest tightening up as he thinks about all the possibilities. He grabs a pair of sweatpants off his floor and struggles into them, throwing on one of Jason’s hoodies he had borrowed forever ago and forgot to return. When he makes it out the front door he stumbles off of the steps and fumbles to open the door of Aphrodite’s Ford Fusion. The ride is quiet as she drives, unwilling to meet Leo’s eyes. The radio is off, and they drive in silence which suits him just fine. He watches as the outside world blurs around him, trying not to think about who could be hurt or how the last time he was in a hospital was when he had found out his mom had died.

He can’t remember getting out of the car and making his way into the hospital. All he knows is he’s wrapped up tightly in Piper’s arms and he can’t stop shaking because he hasn’t seen his family yet, and he knows somebody is hurt but doesn’t know who or how badly. Piper’s running her fingers through his curls and saying words he can’t hear. She helps lead him to a room, her mom on the other side of him, and when he sees Nyssa and his dad relief washes over him. Someone is missing though, and only when he looks at the person his family is standing over does it click. _Jake_.

“He said he had a headache- fell down in the shop- doctors say it was a stroke caused by a brain aneurysm- probably won’t make it- nothing we can do- brain dead.” He hears bits and pieces of what his sister is saying, but he has trouble focusing. Jake is hooked up to a machine, unable to breathe on his own, and it looks like a part of his forehead is dented in from hitting something. Leo doesn’t know he’s falling until Piper is on the ground beside him, holding his head in her hands and he sees her lips moving. Nyssa is holding her hand over her chest, eyelashes wet with tears.

“I can’t,” he whispers repeatedly. He tucks his head into Piper’s shoulder, squeezing his eyes shut and praying that he’ll wake up from this nightmare. He knows people are talking, but he still can’t hear anything. His dad’s large hand rests on his shoulder and he breaks, his tears soaking his friend’s tee-shirt. Around five the doctor comes in, and his dad consents to pull life support when he learns his eldest son is officially brain dead. He’s there when the heart monitor flatlines, and Leo can still hear that ringing after Piper tucks him into bed, his sister and dad staying behind to sort everything out. She stays up with him until ten, and then she crashes. He can’t fall asleep, he tries, he stays in bed beside Piper with his eyes shut for another hour before he can’t take it anymore. He crawls over her and heads out of his house, unsure of where he was headed.

* * *

“Leo!” He thinks he hears someone shout. He keeps walking, not looking back. He’s walking barefoot along the highway, and he can barely feel the dull pulsing pain in his feet. Everything things numb, and while he is aware of things happening around him it is like he can’t react, only watch like a bystander in his own life. A familiar car pulls off to the shoulder in front of him, and he keeps walking, even as the door opens. He walks right into the blond, and he starts to crumble. It takes a few minutes to respond to the other’s embrace, but he melts into it slowly, wrapping his own arms around the other’s waist. He can feel his cheeks getting wet, knows he’s crying, but he can’t register it. His knees give out, and his companion slowly kneels on the ground with him, keeping his body stable as they sink down together.

“He taught me how to pitch. He made me taquitos whenever I got sick. In fourth grade when I couldn’t go to an Astros game he came back with a hat he had bought me with his own money. He was in fifth grade, that probably cost him his allowance for a month, but he did it. He was there for me after mom, he never let me be alone, never let me feel alone. It’s like,” Leo dry heaves, his body shaking violently in the blond’s strong arms, “it feels like somethings missing. I feel like I should go home and find him sitting at the table doing his homework, but my brain knows he won’t be there.”

“I’m here Leo. I’m here,” the voice from before soothes him, and he can feel himself returning to his body slowly. Jason gently moves him into the passenger seat and buckles his seatbelt before he gets back into his car. He calls somebody and talks to them quickly before he hangs up and begins to drive in the direction Leo had come from. “Piper called me and told me what happened. She was freaking out because nobody could find you and you left your phone at home. You really scared us, Leo,” he says. He glances at his friend before he rests his hand on the smaller boy’s thigh. Leo is present enough to feel sorry, and he ducks his head and looks out the window.

When they get back to his house Piper meets them out front. She puts Leo into the bathroom with a change of clothes and tells him to shower. He does as she demands, his body on an autopilot of sorts, and when he gets out he finds Jason sitting outside the bathroom waiting for them. If he notices the thick woodsy smell of Jake’s shampoo he doesn’t say anything. He takes him back to his bedroom and pulls him into bed with him. Piper lays on his other side, and the three of them share their memories. Leo feels safe, wrapped tightly in his Jason’s arms with Piper pressed against his other side, feels stable. He knows he’s found a home in them, and while he still feels a bit like he’s watching a sick tragedy play out on the television, he has come back enough to himself that he can appreciate this moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> un-beta'd, feel free to let me know if i missed anything. i tend to miss things a lot.  
> okay, so this is a pretty heavy chapter. i knew jake was going to die from the beginning, i just wasn't sure when. none of my chapters really connect or have a day to day timeline, but i figured this was where i wanted this to happen. i actually know somebody who died pretty young from an aneurysm, it is pretty much a silent killer. i know thats technically CO2, but yeah.  
> i changed the archive warnings a while ago, but i meant to bring up that something like this would be happening. it help drives a lot of the final bit of plot, and helps explain some of leo's choices in upcoming chapters, and yeah. next chapter is actually nyssa-leo centric and builds on their relationship and this tragedy. enjoy, and pls don't hate me for doing this


	15. It's Just Us Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> summary: leo can't heal, he can't even make himself try

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own any of the characters, all Percy Jackson and Heroes Of Olympus characters belong to Rick Riordan.

The funeral happens on a Wednesday, three days after Jake’s death. There is going to be a small service, and Leo skips school and sleeps in. Piper and Jason show up at his house around noonish to help him get ready. They’re the only two who really knew what was going on. Nico had an idea, but that was only because his father ran the funeral Leo’s dad set things up through. Piper combs through his hair after forcing him to shower and Jason helps him with his tie. The two look beautiful despite the occasion. He knows the loss hurts them too, but he also knows they will never feel it to the same magnitude he is. Jason still has Thalia, even if she isn’t very present in his life, and Piper has Lacy and Drew. While they try to understand, they can’t. Nobody can, not until they’ve suffered the same loss.

He appreciates that they try though.

He’s ready by one even though the funeral doesn’t start until three. He lays back in his bed, not speaking once, and lays on his side. His friends crawl into the bed beside him, and he rests his head on Jason’s bicep. Piper is holding his hand, and the three just lay there until Piper’s mom calls them down so they can head out to the service.

Leo rides with his dad and Nyssa, Jason crammed into the back of his dad’s rundown Ford, his warm body pressed firmly against the smaller boy’s. No words are exchanged, and everyone looks out the windows instead of each other, the atmosphere too heavy. The blond rests his hand against the young Latino’s knee and squeezes once before they exit the car.

If asked, Leo wouldn’t be able to explain the service or anything else that happened that day. He’s not in control of his body, and it’s like his brain has taken a break, not processing or thinking about anything. It’s hot for a fall day and the collar of his shirt itches against the back of his neck, as sweat beads down his back.

His dad stands in front of the people who came to pay their respects and gives a brief speech about how hard the loss was, and how much good Jake had done in people’s lives. Nyssa is squeezing Leo’s hand, crying into his shoulder, and he isn’t sure if he squeezed her hand back as his own arm hangs limply by his side. It’s not much, and she’ll probably never know it, but it’s what keeps him tethered, stops him from completely floating away in his mind. She’s there for him and he is there for her.

People give him his condolences, but he can’t bring himself to care. He stands over his brother’s embalmed body as the casket is shut, continues to stand there long after he is buried in the ground, unable to comprehend that he’ll never _see_ Jake again. His mind is still blank when Jason tucks him under his arm and leads him back to the car.

Leo lets him, too numb to care or resist.

* * *

Leo’s spread out on the couch, blankly staring at the T.V. There are no lights on in the room and the blinds are shut, so the television screen illuminates the rest of the room. The volume is low, barely loud enough to hear, but to Leo it’s loud enough to increase the painful throbbing in his head. Nyssa enters the living room from the kitchen, ignoring the T.V. and looking at her brother as she stands over the back of the couch.

“Are you going to school today?”

“No.” He hadn’t been to school since the Thursday after the funeral and it was currently Tuesday. He had made it through first period before he walked himself out of the school and home. He had ignored his phone, which kept dinging from texts and phone calls from Piper and Jason, sent a quick text to Nyssa before powering it down. He had fallen asleep shortly after, and had no concept of time since. The Love Mechanic didn’t air for the first time since the segment started but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He hadn’t turned his phone on since that day, but he knew at this point everyone in his friend group was aware of what had happened and had tried to communicate with him somehow. Jason had stopped by to drop off some of his school work, and while they didn’t talk and Leo mostly ignored his presence, he felt grounded for the few minutes the blond hung around.

Nyssa sighs, and it sounds like something caught between a sob and a gasp. What he was doing wasn’t healthy and they both know it.

While Leo’s life shut down completely, Hephaestus had gone to the other extreme. His dad had never been good with words had distanced himself further than before, throwing himself into work so that he was exhausted. It was obvious he was trying to cope, trying to fill the hollow space left by his eldest son’s death. Nyssa was the only one who seemed to be handling the situation in an appropriate way. She went to work and fell back into her normal routine, and Leo might’ve fallen for it if her eyes weren’t always red and puffy and if he didn’t hear her sobbing in the middle of the night. The first time he heard it he was coming back from the bathroom, and it had startled him. He had sat outside her room the entire night, listening to her sob and unsure what to do until he fell asleep. He woke up the next morning with her comforter draped across him, curled up in her bed.

He looked up at her, not moving his head, and saw her looking at the T.V. too. He had put on old VCR tapes his mother had filmed when she was still alive. On the screen was a five-year-old Jake, happily running around at the local park and throwing a foam football to his dad. The screen blacked out for a minute before a new image came onto the screen, it was at the same park, but Nyssa and Jake were pushing a toddler version of Leo in a swing, his tiny body twisting wildly as he and his siblings screeched out in joy. The scene plays on for a little while longer before it switches to Leo’s preschool graduation where Jake whacked him with the flowers his mother had bought to celebrate and Nyssa was bawling off camera because a cup of punch had been spilled on her brand-new dress.

She stepped around the couch, sending a quick text to someone before she tosses her phone in the loveseat. She lifts Leo’s head up and settles herself into the cushion of the couch before letting her brother’s head down onto her leg. Neither of the two speak, neither mention the fact that Leo is in Jake’s old practice sweats that have a football and his jersey number ironed on into the upper thigh, neither mention that Nyssa is wearing Jake’s favorite sweatshirt, the one he wore so much that holes decorated the sleeves and back. They remain silent even as tears hit Leo’s face and slide down his cheeks, combining with his own.

She runs her fingers through his hair, petting him as if he was a dog, and he can’t find it in himself to complain like he normally would.

* * *

It’s Friday, and the school calls because Leo has missed close to the maximum amount of days he can at school. Nyssa tells them that they can’t put a time limit on his grief before she hangs up.

* * *

Nyssa woke him up on Sunday around four in the morning and takes him out on a hiking trail their family went on a lot before their mom died. They hadn’t been there since, and something about the place makes him feel emptier than he had before. He sits on the dirt, and he can feel his butt get damp from the dew on the ground. He leans against a tree and looks up at the sky, his throat too tight for him to breathe or form words.

“It’s just us,” she says.

“Yeah,” he responds, his voice barely above a whisper. She drops onto the ground beside him and rests her head on his shoulder. She’d been more touchy since Jake’s death, as if she had to physically confirm Leo was there, that she hadn’t been left completely alone.

“Do you remember when Jake made the varsity team his Sophomore year?”

“And he got so excited trying to tell dad that he tripped in the shop and chipped his tooth? Yeah,” Leo chuckles, resting his cheek against the top of his sister’s head. “What was better though was before Junior prom when he sprayed Axe in his eye by accident and took the shower curtain down with him.”

“Yeah,” Nyssa snorted softly, “his date’s face when he had to tell her how he had gotten a concussion a week before prom was priceless. Oh God Leo, remember when he got that dreadful buzz in eighth grade and found out that not only was the back of his head flat but that he had a weird birthmark back there?” The two laughed at that, and they continued to share stories until the sky started to lighten up slowly. “Hey, Leo?”

“Yeah,” he murmurs. He looks down from the sky at her and sees that she’s looking right at him, something unreadable behind her eyes.

“You can’t stop living. You know Jake wouldn’t want that.” His chest tightened, uncomfortable and hot. He looked back at the sky, not responding. “Seriously. And you need to get out of here. We both saw it. Neither of us wanted to stay here. I,” she paused, moving her head to rest her chin on her knees, “I thought I was going to get out of this town. Thalia and I were going to run away together, but when I graduated it was obvious dad was having a rough time with the thought of me leaving, so I stayed. Jake was going to do big things with football, you know? But his injury, and yeah.” Leo watches her now, caught up in what she was saying.

“We adapted, y’know? But you, we both knew you were going to be the one to get out of here and do these incredible things. We knew you couldn’t be contained in this town by the curse that had kept dad and us here. Jake and I talked about it a lot. All he wanted was for you to be happy.” She reaches into the backpack she had brought up with her and pulls out a leather-bound journal. He takes it from her carefully, his thumb rubbing over the bent corner. “It’s Jake’s. He wanted to give it to you when you graduated, but, well, I figured you need it more now.” Leo clutches the book to his chest as they fall back into silence, watching as the sun finishes its ascent over the world. For the first time in two weeks he feels like he may be starting to heal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> un-beta'd, so feel free to let me know if you see something wrong!  
> ah, okay. so jake's death is going to be a big thing in the next few chapters because it greatly effects leo's life.  
> i know i haven't mentioned him much, but think about it if you have siblings. i have like no knowledge of what goes on in my sisters' lives because i'm too concerned with mine, but we still have so much history and they will always be my besties no matter how long we go without talking. the way i wrote this was supposed to demonstrate that. leo's life has been about him and jason and this whole love mechanic thing, and he is going to struggle with the fact that he wasn't really there for his brother because he was too busy caring about himself. yeah, just know this is not going to have a magical fix because i am an evil and terrible person who killed leo's older brother  
> that being said, his life does have to move on despite this loss, so the rest of this wont just be him grieving. action will start picking up next week, and while this won't be as big a theme, it will be a dark cloud that remains in leo's life for a while. okay, yeah, enough with this.  
> also, i might post a new chapter soon or just wait for a while. depends on how my week goes and how motivated i am (plus a new camp camp episode came out for halloween and yeah).


	16. Anger is The Third Stage of Grief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> summary: leo tries to get back on track with his life, but grief begins to feel like boiling hot rage and he finds himself filled with a lot of hate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own any of the characters, all Percy Jackson and Heroes Of Olympus characters belong to Rick Riordan.

Leo had spent the weekend reading his brother’s journal before returning to school that following Monday. Piper had lit up when she saw him, and he returned her excitement with a halfhearted wave. She had sat beside him and waited for him to make conversation. When he finally did she visibly relaxed and flashed him her killer pageant smile, the one that he knew would make him fall in love with her if he wasn’t gay. The next two periods went much the same, only with the addition of Jason and some of their other friends. He was falling back into his routine, and it was hard to tell anything at all had happened to him. He covered the hurt with terrible jokes and half-assed smiles, and nobody except Jason and Piper seemed to notice. They didn’t say anything, didn’t call him out on it, and he found himself unusually agitated. He wanted them to say something, to let him he didn’t have to pretend. They didn’t.

Fourth period was the only class he had without any of his friends, Spanish 4. Leo knew most of what was being taught and was having trouble focusing anyway, so he powered on his phone for the first time in almost a week. Almost immediately it began to blow up with notifications, vibrating from incoming messages and missed calls. Jason had texted him repeatedly, undeterred by his lack of response. The messages made him smile even though they were just little things that let Leo know his friend was there for him. Piper had sent him a lot of GIFs and called him daily, he saved the voicemails so he could listen to them later. A lot of his friends had the same response, little apologetic texts that let him know they were there if he ever needed him. He had a total of twelve messages from Apollo, the first two angry because he missed the show, the next nine apologizing after he found out from Will what had happened with his brother, and the final one telling him he didn’t have to come back until he was ready.

The ones that bothered him, though, were the ones from Travis. Maybe he had been festering a little bit of annoyance with the older Stoll sibling since he caught him kissing Jason, but his texts made Leo curl his hands into fists so tight his knuckles went white.

‘I’m sorry about your loss,’ received Thursday after the funeral at 3:30 p.m.

‘Leo, I can’t believe you let our streak run out. That was a hundred and fifty days of hard work thrown away.’ Received the Friday he went on the hike with Nyssa at 6:20 a.m.

‘I s2g,’ received Friday at 6:20 a.m.

‘I know you lost our streak like a week ago, but I hadn’t really said anything bc you were grieving, but I expected you to restart one at this point and you haven’t.’ Received Friday at

‘Which is pretty inconsiderate and makes me pissed, so I’m excommunicating you for now.’ Received Friday at 6:22 a.m.

‘tata’ and ‘xoxo- Travis,’ were both received at 6:23 a.m.

If he wasn’t seeing red he might’ve brushed it off as Travis joking with him, as he knew his friend was in no way serious since he included the last two texts, but they only served to aggravate him further. He shoved his phone in his pocket and slumped down in his chair, arms crossed over his chest and jaw set as he waited for class to be over so lunch could begin.

* * *

The junior had agreed to meet up in a nearly empty classroom with his friends and their group of underclassmen minions as Rachel had to work on her project for AP Art. Leo had lagged behind his friends to buy lunch as he never packed his own, assuring them it was okay for them to go ahead of him. He had made it halfway to the art room before he started tearing at the styrofoam tray, unimpressed with the nuggets and mashed potatoes the lunch lady had slapped onto his tray. The potatoes looked a little gray and the chicken was formed in tiny spheres that looked as bad as they probably tasted.

He entered the classroom, and all conversation stopped. He looked up from his destroyed tray at his friends, none of whom seemed willing to break the new silence. Except for Travis.

“Ah, look who decides who to show his ugly mug," he says with a friendly smile.

“Travis,” Rachel warns, but the teen ignores her.

“Almost what, two weeks, without communication and you come waltzing back in here?”

“Travis, stop it, now’s not the time.” Jason warns, resting his hand on the teen's shoulder. Leo feels his nostrils flare as he tosses his tray down on the table and sits beside Piper.

“What, I’m just saying Leo could have thought about others and had someone keep up his streaks, you know, like normal people do?”

“You’re not being funny, stop it man,” Leo mumbles.

“What’s not funny is you not replying to any of us, even though we were trying to help you.” Leo looks around at his friends, waiting for them to jump in and tell the brunette that he had signed no contract to keep up Snapchat streaks when he was going through a rough time, that Leo was allowed to be distant as he dealt with the loss of his brother. Nobody said anything. “Seriously man, you ghosted all of us. Do you have any idea how unfair that is? You just stopped replying and-“

“Seriously man, shut the fuck up.”

“Listen, I get it, you’re upset. If I lost Connor-“

“No, you don’t get it because you haven’t lost anything. Connor is still alive and your perfect family lives in a perfect townhouse with two perfect dogs and you never have to worry about a damn thing because you have your perfect mom and dad who do _everything_ for you. I don’t have a mom, Travis. I had Jake and Nyssa and my dad, and I still never really _had_ a dad. Your so-called understanding of death and the pain the loss causes is that goldfish you got from a booth at the carnival when you were nine.”

“Yo, no need to come at me because your home life sucks ass and I actually have a family who cares about me.”

Leo doesn’t know it’s happened until his knuckles throb and Travis is on the ground nursing his nose. He takes a few shaky steps back, running his thumb over his fingers as the pain becomes a gentle ache and he can think straight again. The white haze of rage that had burned his eyes is retreating, pleased with what it had convinced him to do. Piper’s leaning over Travis, looking at his nose, and the rest of his friends are looking at him like he was the one at fault.

“Dude, what the hell,” Jason yells. He puts himself in between the two boys, pushing Leo back gently. “That was uncalled for man.”

“No, what was uncalled for was him attacking me for grieving. _Grieving_ , Jason. I think I’m allowed to do that, don’t you?”

“Leo, he was just trying to say that we were worried about you because you wouldn’t tell any of us how you’re feeling and none of us know what to do for you to make it better.”

“How I’m feeling? You want to know how I’m feeling?” He feels his voice rising as his body heats up. “I feel like I have shitty friends who can only worry about a _stupid_  snapchat streak when I just lost my brother. If you want to know how I’m feeling imagine finding out in the middle of the night that Thalia is in critical condition, that you never get the opportunity to say goodbye to her because she’s brain dead. Imagine listening to the monitor flatline and having to have Piper and your father drag you away from the body because you refuse to believe that she’s gone, refuse to believe that you’ll never see her alive again. Imagine watching her face disappear as they close the casket over her and pile dirt on her body and knowing that she’s gone and you will never, _ever_ get her back.

“Nothing will ever make this shitty situation _better_ Jason.” He laughs dryly, the muscles in his arms tensing and relaxing. “ I was so caught up with my own life that I barely even talked to Jake. I only talked to him when it was convenient for me, I never went out of my way for him. He always did all this shit for me, worked to make sure I would have the money to go to college and gave up a lot of his free time to help me with homework or listen to me complain, and I _barely_ noticed him or the things he was struggling through. I didn’t care about how he was doing, didn’t bother to find out. I didn’t tell my brother all the fucked-up shit that happened in my head after my mother died, never told him I was gay even though I knew he would accept me, so what makes you think I’m obligated to share that information with you?”

“Leo!” Piper is crying and he wants to feel bad, he really does, but he just can’t. His ears are ringing and the white haze is back and he thinks he just might hit Jason too if the blond doesn’t _back up_.

“Dude, you need to calm down. You're lashing out at us for no reason,” Travis interrupts and Leo screams. It’s raw and angry, and it comes from his gut so it sounds more like a long grunt. Everyone in the room except Jason is edging away from him, looking at him like he might snap at any moment and stab them with a spare paintbrush.

“Chill, you’re freaking everybody out, look at Piper man. You don’t have a reason to be getting so aggressive with Travis, he may not have done it in the best way, but he was just trying to help.” Leo can tell Jason is shaken from his earlier rant by his expression, yet he is trying to diffuse the situation. He’s doing it all wrong though, and for the first time in his life Leo gets the sense that Jason doesn’t think his feelings are valid, and something in him snaps.

“So now that you’re fucking Stoll how I don’t get to feel things? Cool, great to know. Thanks guys, really. I’m glad that my brother died and this shit tears into me about a fucking streak and somehow _I’m_ the bad guy.” He shoves past Jason and grabs his backpack, storming out of the room and slamming the door shut after him. The frame rattles a bit and Leo feels a sick sense of satisfaction.

* * *

Nyssa just sighs when she sees him enter the shop. He throws his backpack down by the desk and makes his way over to her, angrily throwing himself on the ground beside him. She opens her mouth, and he thinks she’s going to ask what happened to going to school, but she doesn’t. Instead, she asks him to hand her a tool. He does, and no discussion is made. She slowly begins incorporates Leo into her current project, asking him for help until eventually he too is leaning over the hood of the truck and playing with parts of the engine. He already feels better, glad to have his hands on something, to finally feel like he has control and is able to fix the problem. She glances at him occasionally, thoughts forming behind her dark eyes before she looks back down at the engine and continues her work.

They continue like that well into the evening, and when Leo looks up from the engine of the truck they had been fixing he is surprised by how dark it has gotten. Nyssa wipes her hands on the legs of her overalls, shutting the hood and knocking on it twice before getting in and starting it up. She does the necessary tests before she stops the car and calls the customer from the desk to let them know the job is done. She walks back over to Leo after a few minutes and puts her hands on her hips, jerking her head to the side. “C’mon kid, let’s get you home.”

“What about the customer?”

“They’re coming in to get it tomorrow. Dad said he’ll close the shop earlier which means he’s probably sleeping here again. “

“Oh, okay.”

* * *

The house is quiet and dark when they get there, and neither of them speaks or move to turn on any of the lights. Leo settles in at the kitchen table, thumb rubbing over a dent in the table Jake had caused when he had gotten angry and hit it. Leo and he had covered it with a placemat and Nyssa hadn’t found out until it was too late to really scold either of the boys. He let his cheek rest against the cool wood and he stared at the wall.

He tells her everything, unloads his day on her even though she didn’t ask. She lets him, not making a sound, not interrupting him to tell him how he felt was silly. When he’s done she maneuvers her way in between the chair and him and wraps him in a tight embrace.

“Oh, Leo,” she murmurs, and he melts into her touch. “Everyone experiences grief differently. It is not the same from person to person, and there is no right way to deal with loss. It’s okay to feel how you are feeling. You’re allowed to grieve for however long you need. This isn’t just going to go away, it’s something that you will have to carry around with you for the rest of your life.”

They stay like that and Leo wonders when his sister got so wise, when she started to sound so tired. He cries, really cries, for the first time since his brother died. He doesn’t separate himself from the experience, instead he drowns in it, suffocates on the sobs and the pain he had kept held back. He focuses on how nothing feels alright with Jake gone and gives himself over to the darkness that surrounds them, lets himself really grieve his situation, his loss. He continues to do so until his eyes can shed no more tears, and even then his body shakes as he snots everywhere. The jerky violent motions and wet sniffling carries on until drowsiness takes over and he slips into sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> un-beta'd as usual. you know the drill at this time, yada yada and so on so on.  
> haha, AppleJuices is going to have to fight me because i basically double posted again, lol  
> anyways, leo is very obviously doing stupid things because of his grief, and it is definitely a lot worse than he originally thought. also, he not so subtly dropped that he was gay to most of his friends. keep in mind the only people who knew or had a clue was Piper and Solangelo  
> also, leo punched travis? incase that wasn't clear. and while violence is never the answer, his friends were not doing anything to help him, especially not travis. idk, but yeah. enjoy an angry and violent leo who hits people and skips school  
> not sure when i'll post next, but i hoped you enjoyed. feel free to drop a comment below and let me know how you felt about the last few chapters


	17. Confessions Aren't Just for Religious Purposes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> summary: leo likes the way jason looks in his bed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own any of the characters, all Percy Jackson and Heroes Of Olympus characters belong to Rick Riordan.  
> beta'd by AppleJuice, thank you so much for the pointers and help! i felt more confident about posting this chapter than any of the previous ones

Leo tossed his backpack by his bedroom door and kicked off his shoes, eyes glued on his phone as he flipped the light switch on. He turned around and let out a high-pitched scream when he finally looked up from his screen.

Jason was sitting on his bed, hands intertwined in his lap. He pressed a hand against his racing heart and made his way toward the blond sitting on the opposite end of the bed.

“Um, hey.” Leo mumbled, yanking the headphones out of his ears, setting his phone down beside him.

He and Jason hadn’t talked since the incident. Leo had felt guilty about his little outburst, understanding that he never should have lashed out at his friends like that. He always came to class as the late bell was ringing and sat near the door so he could be the first one out. He ignored his friends’ texts and snapchats, being too embarrassed to face them. He stayed off of Instagram and Facebook, instead filling his time with homework and Khan Academy videos to help him bring his grade up in Chemistry. It had been two weeks and he knew this confrontation would happen eventually, but he didn’t know it would happen in his bedroom.

“Hi.” It was eight on a Friday night, meaning Jason had finished his football game about an hour ago. His hair was still wet from his shower and he looked exhausted. Jason was only wearing CHB’s orange hoodie over sweats, and somehow he still looked far too attractive to be in Leo’s bed.

Leo had just got back from doing the Love Mechanic with Apollo, answering calls about situations far too similar to his. He felt like a hypocrite, telling them to find more out about the situation rather than assuming. Piper had tried to give him the same advice and he had ignored it, instead acting like a jealous idiot in front of everybody.

“So?”

“Nyssa let me in before she went to the shop, and told me you weren’t home yet and she had no idea when you’d be back. Said that you were always gone until late on Fridays. When I said it’s because you helped out at your dad’s shop, she said you had never come in on a Fridays.” Leo’s hands started to sweat, and he kicked his feet out. He wouldn’t look the blond in the eyes, and Leo knew it was bothering Jason.

“Yeah, I lied. I’m secretly the Love Mechanic, it’s actually a whole Hannah Montana situation.” Leo whispered conspiratorially.

“Seriously Leo,” Jason sighed, rubbing his hand over his face, “if you didn’t want to hang out it’s fine, you didn’t have to lie.”

Leo opened his mouth to say something but the blond cut him off. “Listen, I don’t want to fight anymore. Whatever you do on Fridays is your business and you don’t have to share it until you’re ready.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes until Jason leaned into his side, resting his cheek on the smaller teen’s shoulder. Leo did his best to calm his breathing and heart rate, unable to focus on more than the fact that this was the first time he had talked to or touched Jason in what felt like forever.

“I’m sorry, Jase. About the art room. I just-” he let out a grunt in frustration, chewing on the inside of his cheek as he tried to figure out how to say what he wanted to without conflict, “I was hurt and I don’t feel right, y’know? Like, Jake’s gone and my mind just can’t wrap around that. Everything feels normal but it also feels _wrong_ , like I can’t figure out how to fix this feeling. And Travis? I was just- I wasn’t in a place to be joking about the situation. I should have never hit him, I know it, but in the moment, I just wanted to shut him _up_. I dunno. I just saw white.”

His stomach twists when Jason rests his arm around his hip, his hand resting dangerously close to little Leo. He’s sure the blond can feel the muscles in his thigh and lower back tensing and is incredibly thankful that Jason makes no comment on it.

“We probably didn’t help either. We should’ve stepped in and stopped it sooner. Piper and I knew you weren’t mentally there, but we didn’t want to push you. We should’ve been more there for you. I mean, I should have been a better friend to you. I hadn’t even noticed you were feeling how you were about Travis before you got angry and freaked out at me.” Jason says.

“What?”

“You were upset that I was spending so much time with him- Piper told me. I should have noticed at brunch on Saturday. I never meant to make you feel like you weren’t my first choice anymore. You needed me to back you up and I didn’t, so it seemed like I was on his side. Not that I was on anybody’s side, but I can see how it might’ve come off that way. You will always be my best friend, Leo.”

“It’s not- I like you, Jason,” Leo stutters, tucking his chin into his chest and focusing on the stitching of his jeans, fingers running over the uniform lines. “As in like- _like_ you.” His mouth started blurting out things before he could even process he was saying them. “And, I mean, I’ve like- _liked_ you since middle school when Piper thought she was going to marry you and I was supposed to be the best man _and_ the man of honor. And I didn’t know if you were gay or bi or straight or what, and I felt guilty because I liked you and you didn’t know and yeah.”

Jason tried to speak up, but Leo wasn’t finished. He wanted to get all of this out into the open.

“Piper found out, and so did Nyssa, and they both thought I should tell you, but I just, I couldn’t. Not because I thought you’d be disgusted and hate me because I was gay, I know you’re not that way, but because it’s just, how I thought, how I _think_ about you, is wrong. I shouldn’t be thinking about you that way because you’re my best friend, but I couldn’t _stop_ it, and I had no idea how to tell you. I could literally tell everybody but you.” Leo breathed in.

“I heard you and Percy talking at his party and then I just- I didn’t know how to talk to you about how I felt because you liked somebody else, and I didn’t want you to feel obligated to return my feelings or feel guilty because you didn’t like me back. You’re a good guy, Jason, and I know you would, so don’t bother trying to deny it.”

Leo continued on, not able to stop himself now. “I just-, I felt so _wrong_ about it, and then I saw Travis kissing you after auditions. And like, I _know_ it isn’t my place to feel jealous or anything because you aren’t dating me, but I was so irrationally jealous. Like, it wasn’t fair that you liked him instead of me when I knew you longer, and I kept thinking about how I wish it had been anyone else but _him_ , but I would probably hate whoever it was because it wasn’t me. And you were spending more time with him, and all I could think about was how you were doing things with him, and how I could’ve maybe have been doing those things with you if I had told you before.”

“Leo, I didn’t know,” Jason says. He’s sitting up, looking at the young Latino in a way he never has before. Leo’s not sure what it means, but he does his best to maintain eye contact.

“Yeah, well now you do.” Leo stands up, unable to be still any longer. He walks back towards his door, playing with the handle before he looks back at the blond. “That was kinda the point anyways, you not knowing I mean. I just-, I just couldn’t. I don’t know.”

“You know Travis and I,” Jason shifted and Leo’s bed creaked, “I mean, we were never, y’know? He just asked me to help him. Said it’ll help the both of us in the long run anyways. You know he’s into Piper, right?”

“Wait, what? She’s like our sister!”

“They’ve known each other since he was seven, this is exactly why he didn’t want to tell you. He was worried you’d freak out on him and he thinks he doesn’t have a chance anyway. He said he could help me out with my relationship problem if I gave him some advice, which is why I’ve been hanging out with him so much.”

“Okay, but you two kissed. You know that, right?”

“He kissed me and said good luck, like I was supposed to understand why he did it- hey, don’t look at me.” Jason held his hands up.

Leo groaned, slamming his head into the door frame. “That little shit wanted me to get jealous, he _knew_ I liked you. God, I feel so embarrassed. I should have just listened to Piper before snapping on the both of you.”

“You should’ve come talked to me after you heard me telling Percy I liked someone. We might’ve been kissing comfortably by now.”

“Wait, _what?_   _Kissing?_ ”

“I mean, I don’t kiss before a few dates. It would’ve been, what, two months now? Seriously, I could’ve gotten to see you wear my jersey on game days, take you out for dates, gone public with you by this point. So much wasted time.” Leo’s head was rolling, not fully processing what Jason was saying.

“You’ve lost me Jay. What do you mean by kissing and jerseys and dates?”

“Oh shit, I forgot to say it, didn’t I?” The blond’s face flushed, and he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. Leo just nodded his head, unsure what he was agreeing to.

“Wow,” Jason chuckled, ducking his own head down before smiling shyly at Leo. “Well, I like you too. Like- _like_ , I mean.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here you go. i've had this done for a bit? but like, i was too busy to post, and then i got major alcohol poisioning and was sick all weekend, and its halloweek this week so??? i'm basically making terrible decisions, and don't be like me. but because i've had these experiences i can write so much more??? not a good excuse, i was put in a very compromising situation and thought i was going to die, but yeah. i am now working on a valgrace fic based loosely on my life and experiences? i may or may not have a halloween oneshot based on this but not in this story? idk, who knows. maybe it'll go with the college au. i'm just dying rn and i need to not be looking at any kind of screen because it makes me sick  
> OFF TOPIC, sorry. anyways, yeah. the confession finally happened. i agree that it was kind of rushed, but i couldn't figure out how to slow it down without making it drag on. oh well


	18. Hold on, My Bestfriend Hasn't Told me how to Respond Yet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> summary: piper proofreads leo's conversation with jason

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own any of the characters, all Percy Jackson and Heroes Of Olympus characters belong to Rick Riordan.  
> beta'd by AppleJuice, thank you so much for the pointers and help! I felt more confident about posting this chapter than any of the previous ones

“So Jason was all like ‘ _ You could’ve worn my jersey and taken you on dates _ ’ and I was all like ‘ _ wait whaaaaa _ ’ and then Jason said ‘ _ oh yeah, I like you too _ ’ and I was all like  _ ‘gotta call Pipes brb’ _ and yeah.”

“Wait, so where is Jason right now?” Piper’s voice was altered slightly by the static on the phone, but Leo heard her clear enough.

“Oh, Jason? He’s still right here,” Leo says. He spares Jason a look, the blond is leaning against his pillows and looking through something on his phone. His shoulders are shaking so the smaller teen knows he’s doing his best not to laugh. Blue eyes look up to meet dark brown, and he smiles so his scar seems to disappear.

“So you’re telling me Jason confessed to you and your immediate reaction was to tell him to hold up and call me?” She doesn’t sound amused. Leo can imagine her pressing the phone to her ear with her shoulder as she paints her toenails a bright red.

“Well, yeah?” He fidgets, rubbing the ends of his fraying jeans between his fingers. He stares at his comforter, wondering if he should wash his sheets soon. He washed them three weeks ago but had changed the sheets last week. Did that mean he should wash his comforter every four weeks or every two weeks when he changed his sheets? Maybe Nyssa would just wash it for him, if he asked with his puppy dog eyes.

“Let me clarify, Superman confesses his love and is in your bed and instead of savoring this moment by commemorating the confession with some sweet love making you called  _ me _ .” Piper’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts, reminding him that he was on the phone with his best friend talking about how their other best friend had admitted to returning his feelings, important things. His bedding was the last thing he should be thinking about.

“Gross Piper, it’s not like that.” He fidgets, looking at Jason. Leo feels his face heat up when they make eye contact and he looks back down at his ankles. When he glances back out of the side of his eyes he sees Jason smirking down at his iPhone. It makes him flustered all over again.

“Yeah, I know. It’s just so fun to tease you Leo, that I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.” He hears shuffling on her side of the line and a heavy sigh before Piper speaks again. “Lacy is going to be crushed,” she snorts. Leo remembers her teasing him about the young blonde’s supposed crush on him. He wasn’t sure if she was serious or not but the thought of Lacy being upset made him uncomfortable.

“What? Why does that matter? Lacy isn’t a part of this.”

“Exactly Leo. Why did you call me? I’m not a part of this. Everything you’ve wanted is within reach but for some reason you’re making our good friend sit in bed and listen to you talk about his confession instead of acting on the fact that you now know you both like each other romantically.”

“I’m just trying to piece it all together? Like, my brain isn’t working, I can’t comprehend it all that well because- well, yeah. And you are a part of this. In a way, I mean.” Leo whines, shifting his weight so that he’s leaning against Jason’s legs. The blond adjusts himself, pulling the Latino into his chest. It relaxes him, listening to the steady thrum of his heartbeat as Piper talks.

“How am I a part of this?” Piper asks, and Leo can imagine her crossing her arms over her chest. She sounds offended, but he can’t be sure as she could just be surprised.

“You know how girls always send screenshots to their friends so that they can help them with what to say next? Yeah, well that’s why I’m calling you. Because I’m not sure what happens from here, and you knew that Jason and I liked each other and didn’t say anything because you’re wise and all that shit and you know what’s best for us. You’re involved because you are our best friend and you only want what is best for us and you give the best advice.”

Jason shifts so that Leo can see his face. “Piper knew and didn’t tell either of us?” He can hear Piper on the other side and knows she heard Jason.

“Oh come on, it was  _ not _ my place. I prompted you guys and provided support when necessary, but when you try to force two magnets together they repel,” she says in a ‘well duh’ tone. “Would’ve ended bad, you two would’ve been awkward and would’ve blamed me for stepping out of my place or something stupid.”

“She says it couldn’t be forced to happen or else it would’ve ended bad,” Leo repeats. His gut twists as he things about the Connor-Will-Nico situation and how he was in Piper’s place. He could understand her position. “She’s right, you know. It wasn’t her place. We’d have been pissed with her and unfairly blamed her, kind of like we might be now.”

“But she knew.” He doesn’t sound angry, just conflicted. Leo pats his knee and gives him a lazy smile. Jason relaxes behind him, shifting again into a position that is more comfortable for the Latino.

“And? We can’t put that we didn’t confess until now on her and you know it,” Leo says. “Anyways,” he hums before he goes back to his phone conversation with Piper, “what now? This isn’t some chick flick or a shitty fanfic like Twilight where we make out and fuck and nothing is awkward, you know.”

“Twilight wasn’t a fanfic and you love that book Leo, you still have your Team Jacob boxers,” Piper interrupts. “But yeah, you’re right. It’s going to be awkward, but the two of you need to talk this out and figure out what you want to do about this new revelation of yours.” The line goes dead and Leo throws his head back in frustration.

“Ow.” Leo glances over his shoulder to see Jason rubbing his jaw. He resists the urge to snort. Of course he’d head butt the blond when they were being cute and cuddly, it only highlighted the fact that he was bound to mess up whatever was between the two of them.

“Sorry Jase, Piper’s just- ugh. She’s Piper.” He tosses his head back again, but this time Jason sees it coming and Leo’s head ends up on his shoulder. The smaller teen ignores the fact that he starts thinking of how right it feels, how the blond’s shoulder must have been made so that his head could fit into it.

“She’s doing what she believes is in our best interest,” Jason replied with a simple shrug.

“Weren’t you just mad at her for not telling us that we liked each other earlier? Why the sudden change of heart?”

“Not mad, just a little confused? I guess I understand why she didn’t, but it might’ve been easier if she did? I just-, it gives me a headache trying to think about it so I’m trying not to., I think I just have to accept it, I guess.”

“She’s right though,” Leo groans. When Jason raises an eyebrow he continues, “We need to talk about this. About us.” He motions between the two of them, squirming so that he faces the blond. “Okay, so we both like each other but what now? What do we do from here on, how do we transition to something other than best friends. I mean, if you want to be more than best friends. Like, its okay if you don’t want to date or whatever because  _ yeah _ that can be weird.”

“Well, I was hoping I could take you out? Like on a date. We’ll still be the same as we have been, we’ll just, I don’t know, kiss and stuff?” Jason interrupts his rambling and Leo thinks he could be eternally grateful. Leo was getting nervous and had been unable to stop his babbling and the blond stopped him before he embarrassed himself too badly.

“Yeah. But not right away. Because I’ve never kissed anybody and I don’t want to mess this up by moving too fast,” Leo agrees readily. “But, uh, can we cuddle and hold hands though?”

“Yeah, sure. Of course!” Jason sounds flustered, which makes Leo’s whole body feel with excited jitters because he may be kind of dating his best friend now and they were both nervous and awkward. For the first time in his life it felt like he and Jason were equally inexperienced and he wasn’t trailing behind in some way.

“So, uh, you staying for dinner? Nyssa is making empanadas.” Leo goes back to playing with the frayed edges of his jeans.

“Empanadas,” Jason repeats. He always says it wrong on purpose, mispronouncing syllables so that Leo will laugh. It works every time, and the curly haired boy finds himself breaking down into childish giggles. “Yeah I’m in. I came here after the game, wanting to clear the air, so I’m really hungry.”

“We can watch Steven Universe and eat shitty junk food until she gets home if you want?”

“Sounds great.” Jason grins at him, and Leo feels his stomach flutter. 

  
‘ _ This might just work _ ,’ the Latino thinks to himself as he opens his phone up to YouTube to start up a badly recorded episode of Steven Universe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've had this done for a while and AppleJuices had beta'd it for me and i just never posted it bc i'm a lazy pos? and i'm stressed from school and finals and freshman year sucks major ass. but yeah. there's this, but finals have slowly drained all my writing energy from me and i just can't produce? like i know i suck ass, i'm so sorry guys.  
> hope life is treating you all well and that everything goes well for you babes!!!!!!!!


	19. Jason's Favorite Elf

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> jingle bells, Travis smells, Leo's saving up for dates

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own any of the characters, all Percy Jackson and Heroes Of Olympus characters belong to Rick Riordan.  
> beta'd by AppleJuice, thank you so much for the pointers and help! I felt more confident about posting chapters now

“Just, don’t say anything,” Leo pleads, looking between Piper and Drew and tries not to fold into himself. Drew’s nostrils flare and she covers her mouth, looking past Leo to avoid snorting. Piper’s lips twitch and the tan male wishes he could just disappear. “Shut up!”

 

“I didn’t say anything!” Piper gasps, amusement dancing across her face. She crosses her arms over her chest and grins at him.

 

“You were thinking it though,” Leo grumbles. He wants to grab his curls and scream, but he is currently doing his best not to make a scene. He already is getting more attention than he wants, which was saying a lot considering he’s about a kid who wears a lot of neon colored clothing.

 

“I was not.”

 

“I was,” Drew interrupts. She moves her hand and is licking her pink lips, the way she does when they watch Will Ferrell movies together and she tries not to laugh in order to maintain the façade that she is above such “kindergarten humor”. She must’ve taken a photo of him because the flash goes off and causes temporary spots of darkness to go off behind his eyes.

 

“I swear, if you post that anywhere-“

 

“What, you’ll make sure I get put on Santa’s naughty list?” Drew sneers, no longer looking at him as her fingers fly across the screen of her phone. Piper can’t hold it back anymore as, she breaks out into a fit of giggles. Leo glares so fiercely at her that she doubles over and laughs harder.

 

“Seriously guys, stop it!” He whispers, his nose twitching as he pulls on his hat.

 

“Listen, Leo, I know I always told you that you look like a mischievous Mexican elf, but I never thought you’d take me so seriously.” Piper snorts, wiping at the tears falling from her eyes.

 

“Hardy har har. It’s not even that funny Pipes,” Leo says. He does his best to look unamused. “Okay, so what you two, laugh all you want. Leo Valdez, Santa’s little elf helper, it’s just golden, isn’t it?” He can tell they can’t take his anger seriously, not when he’s tapping his foot and the bell on the tip of his shoe jingles with the movement. He’s sure the hat with the oversized and exaggerated ears aren’t really helping his image either, but he continues to stand tall.

 

“It is,” Drew answers, finally looking up from her phone and sparring Leo a smile. She flips her silky hair over her shoulder before she looks at her sister. “I’ll meet you at the food court, I’m going to go pick up mom and Lacy’s presents. Later Leonidas.” And she’s gone, hips swinging as she walks towards the Macy’s department store.

 

“Seriously though Leo, why didn’t you tell me you were working at the mall as, um, Santa’s assistant? When you said you were busy lately, you know you could have told me and I wouldn’t have judged you.” Piper says after a few beats of silence, looking at Leo and smiling softly.

 

“I know, I know. I just, I needed some extra money. Jason wants to take me out, but I didn’t have the money for it.” Leo had spent most of his savings, the money he had earned from the Love Mechanic, on his brother’s funeral. His father had paid the hospital bill, but the family never really had a lot of money to begin with. The youngest Valdez had chipped in and donated some of his money, leaving behind only the money he had saved up for college. As much as he wanted to go on dates with Jason, he refused to touch those funds.

 

“Yeah, but Jason has money. He would’ve covered you, it’s kind of what boyfriends do.” Piper responds, and now Leo flushes and shrinks down.

 

“I didn’t want to take his money. It doesn’t feel right, you know? It never really has, like I _know_ he wants to, and he’d have no problem, but,” he trailed off and looked back at Piper. He was silently begging her to understand, praying to God that as usual, she’d get what he meant without him having to explain it.

 

“But you’ve never wanted to feel like his charity case,” Piper finishes his sentence. She remembers when they were younger and Zeus had made a comment about the Valdezes’ financial issues. He had called Leo Jason’s charity case, and since that moment, Leo had done his best to not come off as a money hungry piranha.

 

Leo nods appreciatively. “Yeah. I mean, I know he wouldn’t care, but I do, y’know? I just, I want to save up for the dates so we could at least alternate paying and I have to get Christmas presents for everyone. So I was trying to save up money, but at the same time I didn’t want to admit I’ve been blowing you guys off to-,” he looked down at the gaudy costume he had to wear while working, “-to make snot nosed kids smile, y’know? Like, my family doesn’t have money and I’m kind of embarrassed by it. And I know you’re going to say I don’t have to be-“

 

“Leo, you don’t.”

 

“But I _am_. And that’s just me, it’s how I am. You know that,” Leo finishes.

 

“Well, you look good Leo.” He gives her a look and she snorts. “Seriously, I don’t know how the North Pole stays so cold with elves as hot as you.” Leo’s so glad he has a friend like Piper.

 

* * *

 

“Wow, Valdez, this is a new low.” Leo glances over his shoulder and deadpans when he spots Nico di Angelo, resident shit head, standing behind a four-year-old in a festive dress.

 

“Says Death Boy who is in the line to meet Santa Claus. Need I remind you Hot Topic is over that way?” Leo retorts, pointing over his shoulder, closer to the direction of Forever 21 than Hot Topic. Nico simply rolls his eyes, a smirk pulling at his lips.

 

“I’m here with my boyfriends.”

 

“Oh, and where are they? I don’t see them anywhere. Listen, you know its okay to admit that you’re here for me, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Even the soccer moms are into me.” Leo grins.

 

“They’re grabbing presents for their families real quick, so I’m saving their spots in the line,” Nico rolls his eyes. There’ is a few beats of silence and Nico doesn’t say anything else until Leo returns from escorting the little girl and her mom to the photography area with the fake Santa.

 

“Listen, Leo,” the pale teen hesitates, “I know this holiday season is going to be rough because you’re so close to your family and it’s the first Christmas without Jake.” Leo swallows, eyes stinging as his throat closes up. It feels like he’s suffocating, and he really can’t afford to pass out in front of all these people. “I’m here if you need me. I get it man, what it feels like. When Bianca died, I got so angry that I ran away for a little while. I remember wanting to hurt everyone so they would know what I felt like, so I wouldn’t be suffering alone. Holidays aren’t fun after you lose someone- you can be okay and almost forget until you’re doing all these traditions and you turn to say something to them about the turkey or tree and they’re just not there. But you don’t have to be alone. If you need me, I’m here for you.”

 

Leo remembers hearing something about Nico having an older sister who passed away from cancer when he was like ten years old. For the first time, he feels guilty for being selfish enough to not have really listened to his friend when he came to talk to him about serious things. Leo chews on his lower lip and nods a bit, shy smile on his face. “Does it ever get easier? Does this emptiness go away?”

 

Nico shakes his head. “It doesn’t go away, but it gets kind of numb. It’s kind of like that phantom limb thing that amputees feel- life goes on, but it will always feel like a part of you is missing.” The younger teen hesitates before placing a hand on the other Leo’s shoulder, giving it a light squeeze. “I’m sorry about what Travis said the other day. I’m sorry that none of us stepped in or stopped him and that none of us stood up for you. We were just... I don’t know. We were stupid okay, and yeah, Travis really crossed a line, but we’re all really worried about you man. Will’s dad said you haven’t returned any of his phone calls about returning to work, you never want to hang out with anyone, you don’t eat lunch anymore, and you always end up skipping out before schools over.”

 

Leo squirms out of his touch, feeling guilt weigh down his stomach. “I didn’t mean to worry you guys. I’m trying, it’s just,” he flounders around, not sure how to word out his thoughts., “I’m just not okay. And I needed some time, but I never meant to freeze you guys out or shut down like I have.”

 

“It’s okay. I know it’s hard, I get what it feels like to lose an older sibling, the guilt that can come with it. Just, I don’t know, maybe it’s time to try to stop handling things on your own? Not even Piper is sure how you feel, and that girl hurts in another room when you drop textbooks on your foot. Whenever you’re ready, we’re eating in the theatre room. We’ll be ready for you.” Nico steps back and nods, and for the first time in a while, a kind of calm happiness settles over Leo, and he nods.

 

The moment between the two of them breaks when Will and Connor bust through the ropes surrounding the Santa line, the two being loud and obnoxious when they notice Leo in his get up. If Will thinks anything of him skipping out on his job with his father to play Santa’s little helper, he doesn’t say anything. Connor pulls out the ugly sweaters he bought for them to wear for the pictures, and they’re pulling them on when Leo leads them to the fake Santa.

 

* * *

 

Leo gets back from work early one day. He’s sure he’s not supposed to know, that he was never intended to find out, but when he’s passing Jake’s room to get to his own so he can flop on his bed and fall asleep he hears a broken sob. It’s weird, that he knows who it is immediately. He hasn’t heard his sister cry in what felt like forever, but that was definitely her crying behind the closed door. He backpedals softly, careful not to make too much noise, and slowly opens the door. His sister is curled up on their brother’s bed with a photo frame clutched  up against her chest.

 

She peaks up when he walks over to her, shoes jingling with each step, but says nothing. Instead, she breaks into louder sobs, and her whole body is shaking. Not quite sure what to do, Leo places his hand on knee as he slides into the bed near her. He gently pries the silver frame from his hands and wishes he didn’t when he sees the picture within it.

 

It’s a kids’ picture with Santa from around the time he was four. He’s crawling over into Jake’s lap, a large grin on his face, and Nyssa’s smile is pulled from ear to ear as she looks at the camera. They’re all dressed in their Sunday best, outfits matching in color and pattern, the same way the kids with happy families and living siblings Leo secretly loves bringing to the fake Santa often matched. He placed the photo down on the desk adjacent to Jake’s bed and pulled his sister up until she was leaning into him. She stops crying, her sniffles causing her whole body to shake. When Leo wraps her up into a tight embrace something in her seems to break, and she starts crying. It’s okay with Leo as, he rocks her back and forth with her she snotting all over his work uniform. Leo remains silent, rubbing soothing circles into the skin on her shoulder, simply being there for her the way she had been there for him.

 

Nyssa has been doing her best to remain strong for him, so much so, that Leo realized she hadn’t really allowed herself to grieve.

 

Nico’s words echo in his head, ‘Holidays aren’t fun after you lose someone, you can be okay and almost forget until you’re doing all these traditions and you turn to say something to them about the turkey or tree and they’re just not there.’

 

* * *

 

“What the hell? Leo.”

 

Leo tenses up because that’s not a voice he wants to hear, not somebody he is ready to face quite yet. He turns around regardless, sipping on the Boba tea he had gotten from the food court during his lunch break. Travis is approaching him, and for the first time since he met the Stoll, Leo feels an overwhelming amount of anxiety. Which is stupid, because it’s Travis, the kid who had to go to the hospital after he shoved a grasshopper up his nose because of a game of truth or dare and most definitely not somebody Leo should be nervous about or afraid of. Except he is, and this is also the same Travis he hasn’t really spoken too since he broke his nose, and this is a confrontation he really doesn’t need at work. But now Jason’s trailing behind, and Leo really wants to curl up into a ball and die.

 

“Woah, shit man, I _told_ you it was Leo.” Travis is grinning like there’ is no bad blood between the two of them, but Leo’s hands are sweating and all he wants to do is run into the bathroom and lock himself in a stall. Jason looks perplexed, and he’s wearing his glasses, which makes Leo want to run into a stall for an entirely different reason. He always thought the glasses made Jason more attractive and had even jokingly told him in middle school that they reminded him of a sexy librarian.

 

“Hey, I’m going to have to ask you to watch your language around the kiddos.” Leo finally settles on. It feels like a safe option, and from the way Travis snorts and rolls his eyes it is received well enough. Jason doesn’t say anything, he just stares at Leo like he has a huge zit on the center of his face. Which he doesn’t because he’s cut the soda out of his life and his acne has cleared up wonderfully. (He’s still figuring out the black head situation, but it’s progress.) “You two here to get your picture with Santa? ‘Cause the fat man isn’t due back for, like, another twelve minutes.” The curly haired teen sips at his drink again, straw awkwardly slurping in the now empty cup.

 

“You work here?” Jason asks finally. His face is unreadable, and Leo isn’t sure what that means for him.

 

“Um, duh.” He winces at his own reply as he tosses his cup towards the trash can. It sinks into the hole in the opening. “I was saving up to take you on a date. Somewhere classy like Chuck E Cheese, y’know?” He defaults into his normal trashy jokes, and the blond’s face softens. Jason doesn’t push the topic further, something Leo finds himself incredibly grateful for.

 

“You look good,” Jason teases, fingering the cotton elf ears attached to Leo’s uniform hat.

 

“Sorry to cut this meeting between you two hot dads so short, but we gotta go get Piper’s gift. It was great seeing ya, man. The elf costume really suits you, you look pretty good,” Travis bursts out, and he’s dragging Jason away towards the mall’s PINK store before they can really start a conversation, before he can see where he stands with the brunette. Leo’s not sure if he’s more upset or relieved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bless AppleJuices for being an amazing human being and friend. putting up with my god-awful grammatically incorrect first drafts can't be easy and i rlly appreciate the little ray of sunshine for looking over it anyways and making it presentable.  
> next time catch jason and leo talking about feelings like mature and emotional adults.  
> on a side note i am officially a-okay and no longer dying so thats a plus. i get out for spring break in like a weak and i got a B+ on my first short story for creative writing so thats a blessing in and of itself because i wrote it the night before it was due  
> anywhore, thanks to all you amazing bbs who wished me well, bless all y'all. and seriously, thanks to everyone who reads and reviews and comments and bookmarks and kudos. i never thought i'd even get one comment, so like, i just, thank you all so much for making me feel excited to write? i promise to get back on this shit soon.  
> personal information dump, i got lowkey overbooked due to sorority shit, but greek life has been suspended so maybe i'll have more time to actually be productive? who knows though, i procrastinate peeing and gave myself a second uti


	20. Leo Gives Jason the Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> summary: when piper said they should talk, leo didn’t realize what exactly that entailed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own any of the characters, all Percy Jackson and Heroes Of Olympus characters belong to Rick Riordan.  
> beta'd by AppleJuice, thank you so much for the pointers and help! I felt more confident about posting chapters now

 

“You know, I would have understood if you told me you were working. You’ve been blowing me off every time I asked you if you wanted to do something or if you wanted to hang out.” Jason’s sprawled out on Leo’s bed, watching the young Latino as he stripped out of his work costume and pulled on something more comfortable- a pair of lavender sweatpants he stole from Piper and Jason’s grey CHB soccer hoodie. “I would’ve understood.”

 

“I know you would have. Trust me Jace, I know you’re like, the greatest most understanding guy out there, but have you considered that maybe I didn’t want you to know?” Leo sighs as he buries himself into the blond’s side. He rubs his nose into his friend’s rib cage before he determines he is comfortable enough with Jason’s bicep under his head.

 

“Why not?” Jason asks. It’s a simple question, and while Leo can tell he tried to keep the slight hurt out of his tone, the blond had done a poor job at masking it. Leo tilts his head up so he’s looking into those beautiful electric blue eyes he loves.

 

“I didn’t mean it like- what I’m trying to say is,” Leo huffs with a groan, “that didn’t come out right. Okay, so I know you said we wouldn’t really change things? Like we’d be the way we always are, but with dates and hand holding and kissing? Well, nothing really has changed. Like you asked me to hang out, and I thought it was a date, but Rachel and Connor were there, and I felt really stupid for, I dunno, getting my hopes up. So I’ve just been saving up so I could do this big ol’ romantic gesture and ask you out like on a date where I’d pay, and I kinda wanted it to be a surprise.”

 

Leo looks down at his hands that pulls softly on the grey cotton of his stolen hoodie. “I mean, when Piper said we should talk, she was right, but we both kinda had this superficial four-minute-long conversation and brushed it under the rug, and well, I’m really confused. Like, are we dating, I don’t even know anymore.”

 

He feels Jason shift beside him, sitting himself up. Leo pushes himself up as well, unsure as he looks back at Jason. “I had no idea you were feeling this way,” Jason admits.

 

“Yeah, well, I think it’s time we had the talk,” Leo mumbles, pulling the collar of the hoodie up to his chin before letting it go. “Because, I honestly don’t know Jason. I think I’m kinda mad at you, and I don’t like it.”

 

“Mad at me? Why would you be-“

 

“Because Travis kissed you. And I got stupidly jealous over it, and I felt these gross things because of you two, and you never said anything about it once to me. We haven’t even talked about it since we confessed and it’s been hanging over me. Maybe it’s because I think the whole jealousy-to-force-a-confession thing is disgusting and I feels like it dirtied my confession and, my feelings for you? Or because I hit Travis and you didn’t stand up for me? Or maybe it’s ‘cause I thought when we confessed everything would get better and I don’t know, this would go somewhere when you said things about dating and what not, but it’s just been so confusing because we cuddle in our beds and eat dinner together, but we aren’t really going on dates and it still feels like we’re just friends.

 

“And I’m just- ugh- we haven’t talked about the things we need to, and I feel so incredibly stupid because Piper warned me that we needed to talk, told us we needed to figure this-,” Leo motions between the two of them, “-out, and we didn’t. I don’t know where we’re going or what we’re doing. And I just feel so stupid and I guess a bit stuck in limbo with you right now.” He didn’t know when he started crying, didn’t even understand why he started crying, but Leo feels himself relax when Jason pulls him in for a soft hug. “Great, now I seem like this huge emotional freak,” he mumbles into the blond’s chest.

 

“No, shush you,” Jason coos into his curls. “Listen, it’s understandable, and I’m sorry I didn’t think to talk with you about these things.” The blond hums, his chest vibrating in a way that makes Leo feel safe, “I think we should talk about this. About what we are. And I guess we’ll have to start with the kiss.”

 

“Jason, you don’t have to-“

 

“No, I do.” Jason interrupts. “It’d be stupid of me to say that I didn’t understand what Travis was up to after he kissed me. And now I know it was the worst possible course of action, that anything else would have been better, but at the time I guess I was kind of giddy. Because when Travis made that comment I thought that maybe it meant you liked me too. I mean, you would have had to for you to get jealous over the kiss. And I wanted to mention it to you, but I also felt guilty about it afterwards because I thought I was better than that, you know? Better than doing something stupid to make somebody jealous. I should have never pulled that shit with you, and I’m sorry.”

 

“You better be,” Leo mumbles, and Leo feels Jason take in a deep breath. “I’m not going to say it’s okay, because it’s not, but I can forgive you for it. I mean, I’ll try for sure.” He feels the blond’s chest move as he released a soft chuckle that dissipates the tense atmosphere. “This isn’t a get out of jail free card though. I think,” Leo pauses and pulls himself away so he can look Jason in his eyes, so Jason would understand how serious he was. “No, I know you really hurt me. And it wasn’t cool, it was actually really kind of fucked up, okay?”

 

“I’m sorry, Leo.” Jason swallows and tilts his head back against the plaster of Leo’s bedroom walls. “About that day, with Travis, and the-,” he hesitates, “I’m sorry about that too. I’ve thought about that a lot. And what Travis said was wrong. I guess we, no I, I expected you to be okay? Which is messed up because I know what your brother meant to you, I was there at the funeral and I saw the aftermath. I just , I didn’t understand the depth of your grieving, and you had been standoffish, and I didn’t take into the account the hurt you were feeling. All I saw was just this unnecessary anger under the surface, which didn’t make sense to me because you’ve always been, just, not that? God, I know that sounds stupid.”

 

“I reacted badly, I’ll admit. I was really stupid,” Leo whispered. “It was like I was waiting, like I was numb and I wanted somebody to say the wrong thing to me so I could go batshit crazy. And I was upset with Travis before, because of the kiss, and then he kind of just brushed off my brother’s death like it was no big deal when it was?” Leo’s shaking, and Jason lets his hand rest on the smaller teen’s knee. “Jake was a big deal and I let him down in recent years, I think. I wasn’t always the best or most present brother, and we were kinda drifting apart and I didn’t do anything about it. And then he was gone, forever, and Travis was texting me about some stupid Snapchat streak and bringing it up like it was the most important thing in the world. And I don’t know if he was trying to make things normal for me, but I couldn’t, I just couldn’t do it.”

 

“We should’ve stopped him, Leo. I should have stopped him. There’s not a limited time to grieve, and we should have acknowledged that. I should have never let Travis talk like that to you when you were visibly upset, and I get why you hit him now.” Jason’s eyebrows furrow. “But it was scary, and we’ve all been worried about you since. I’m not telling you to forgive him, because that’s how you feel, and I have no control over that, but I really think you need to talk to him. And not apologize for how angry you got with him, but maybe apologize for breaking his nose? Because I know he deserved it, but you’re above that.”

 

Jason continues. “This was the kid who walked through a blizzard to make sure you got some soup when you caught a cold Sophomore year. He cares about you and I think you care about him enough to not just give up on your friendship. It may never get back to where it was, but you’ll never know unless you work on it together and try to heal yourselves. If that makes sense.”

 

“Holy shit Jace, you really are such a dad, spewing out all this wise shit like an esophagus.”

 

“Esophagus?” Jason asks, choking on his spit.

 

“Yeah, you know. Those books in the library that have, like, everything in them?” Leo says. He flops down onto his back, the bed creaking due to the movement. He’ is trying to lighten the conversation, the atmosphere being way too heavy for Leo to really feel at ease.

 

“I think you mean almanac, Leo. Esophagus is your throat.” Jason chuckles as Leo blushes a soft pink.

 

“I knew that,” the teen snorts, rolling his eyes.

 

“And what you said about our relationship?” Jason asks.

 

The smaller teen fidgets, looking at his lap as he taps his fingers lightly against his knees. “Yeah. Just, what are we?”

 

“I think last time I left too much open for interpretation. Leo Valdez,” Jason says as he slides off the bed, pulling Leo’s hand out and in between his own. “Let’s do this right, okay. Will you do me the honor and be my boyfriend?”

 

Leo snorts and rolls over onto his side so he can look at Jason’s face. He nods, slowly, before he grins and says a quick yes.

“Yeah, I’d like that,” Leo admits. “But about the whole dating thing, I’m still just, confused?” Jason gives his hand a light squeeze before he settles in to the worn carpet of Leo’s bedroom.

 

“We’ll figure it out.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i had planned to have MTTILY up by the end of this month, but the more i toyed with it the more it became a perleo instead of a valgrace fic so i'm still playing with it and trying to work it out so it fits the way i want it to. that being said, i somehow have started to ship perleo, which is wild bc i hardcore stan valgrace and percabeth so idk why.  
> but um, anyways next chapter may take forever for me to update because when i started this story i thought i was gonna have jason confess to the love mechanic about leo but it obviously didn't go that way and so i'm trying to rework it so his radio job fits in and try to hit a climax and settle it soonish.  
> anywho, school and life is killing me so pls forgive my lameass. love yall


	21. Author's Note

Hey to everyone who is reading this. I know I've been pretty inactive for a while, especially with this story. When I started this story I was kind of just writing and planning as I went along, and eventually realized I hadn't liked how this story was going and lost all motivation to write for it. That being said, I have recently decided to rewrite LTLM with a more concise and planned out plot, I want the radio host thing to play a larger role and I want the drama to be less predictable. That being said I am currently starting to rewrite the earlier chapters as they will follow the same basic plot, but I intend to change a lot. I will hopefully be updating the newer version with chapters soon. For now, I'm marking this fic as complete.  
Thanks


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